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Data engineer at Target
Real User
Reliable and scalable but setup is complex
Pros and Cons
  • "Allows more data between on-premises and cloud solutions"
  • "Some of the optimization techniques are not scalable."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use cases for this solution are integration and connecting to the different data stores where we get data and migration activity, deployment, and integrations into using linked services and deployment models.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution has allowed me to quickly get analysis, sales data, supply chain data, and eCommerce data.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is that it allows more data between on-premises and cloud solutions. It's also useful for orchestration for complex data flows and allows us to do ETL-based transitions heavily. In addition, it allows us to integrate with other third-party systems and compare features and pricing. Other valuable features include database replication, SQL service products, SLA support, data sharing, vendor lock-in, and support for developer tools.

What needs improvement?

Areas for improvement would be the product's performance and its mapping of data flow. In addition, some of the optimization techniques are not scalable, some naming connections are not supported, and automated testing is not supported in all cases. In the next release, I would like to see support so we can enhance based on the next-level pipelines, writing from scratch, flexible scheduling, and pipeline activity.

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Azure Data Factory
November 2024
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For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for about a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is very reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I am satisfied with the technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I previously worked with Azure SQL database.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was complex, but the deployment only took 30 to 40 minutes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This product is priced at the market standard, which is good given that the product contains all the available assets.

What other advice do I have?

When selecting services, make sure to choose only those you need in order to reduce your costs. I would rate this solution as seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1501113 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Reasonably priced, scales well, good performance
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution can scale very easily."
  • "My only problem is the seamless connectivity with various other databases, for example, SAP."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case is getting data from the sensors.

The sensors are installed on the various equipment across the plant, and this sensor gives us a huge amount of data. Some are captured on a millisecond basis.

What we are able to do is the data into Azure Data Factory, and it has allowed us to scale up well. We are able to utilize that data for our predictive maintenance of the assets of the equipment, as well as the prediction of the breakdown. Specifically, we use the data to look at predictions for future possible breakdowns. At least, that is what we are looking to build towards.

How has it helped my organization?

It has helped us to take care of a lot of our analytics requirements. We are running a few analytics models on Data Factory, which is very helpful.

What is most valuable?

The overall architecture has been very valuable to us. It has allowed us to scale up pretty rapidly. That's something that has been very good for us. 

The solution can scale very easily.

The stability is very good and has improved very much over time.

What needs improvement?

My only problem is the seamless connectivity with various other databases, for example, SAP. Our transaction data there, all the maintenance data, is maintained in SAP. That seamless connectivity is not there. 

Basically, it could have some specific APIs that allow it to connect to the traditional ERP systems. That'll make it more powerful. With Oracle, it's pretty good at this already. However, when it comes to SAP, SAP has its native applications, which are the way it is written. It's very much AWS with SAP Cloud, so when it comes to Azure, it's difficult to fetch data from SAP.

The initial setup is a bit complex. It's likely a company may need to enlist assistance.

Technical support is lacking in terms of responsiveness.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution roughly for about a year and a half.

It hasn't been an extremely long amount of time. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

From a security perspective, the product has come up a long way.

With the Azure Cloud Platform, in 2015, I was in a different organization and it was not reliable at all. It has become much more reliable since then and is very stable at the moment. It's reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is pretty easy to scale on Azure. I have found it to be very efficient and it is pretty fast. You just need to get the order done properly, and then you will be able to scale up.

We have about five to seven people using it at this time.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support isn't the best, as it's a bit delayed at times.

Whenever we need some urgent support, wherein we have to restart or something has stuck, it takes a bit of time. Some improvements can be made in the customer support area.

In summary, we are not completely satisfied with the support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not straightforward. It's a bit complex. A company may need to hire someone to assist them with the process.

The solution's deployment took about eight weeks.

What about the implementation team?

I had to hire technical experts who could help us in the process. We could not handle the implementation ourselves.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cost-wise, it is quite affordable. It's not a factor in the decision-making process when it comes to whether or not we should use it. That said, the pricing is very reasonable.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated both Oracle and SAP before choosing Azure Data Factory.

What other advice do I have?

We are customers and end-users.

I'd advise companies considering the solution that they need to be very clear about the use case they are trying to address. They need to understand the data ecosystem that they have and what percentage of data is coming in from the various ERP systems.

Do that study properly and then come up with the right solution. If, for example, it is that the underlying data that they want to analyze is more than 60% residing in SAP, then probably Azure would not be the right platform to move ahead with.

We're mostly satisfied with the product. However, getting it connected to closed ERP systems like SAP would make it more powerful.

I would rate the solution eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Azure Data Factory
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Azure Data Factory. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1715364 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Engineer at a photography company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 5
A tool that offers overall efficiency to its users, particularly in the area of data warehousing
Pros and Cons
  • "I can do everything I want with SSIS and Azure Data Factory."
  • "There aren't many third-party extensions or plugins available in the solution."

What is our primary use case?

In my company, we use Azure Data Factory for everything related to data warehousing. Depending on my customer's wants, I will use SSIS or Azure Data Factory. If my customers want Fivetran, I will use it for them. If the customer wants a suggestion from me on what they should use, then I will look at what they have today and their skills. According to the inputs I receive from my customers, I will recommend what makes more sense for a particular customer. I can be called a software agnostic.

How has it helped my organization?

I can do everything I want with SSIS and Azure Data Factory.

What needs improvement?

There aren't many third-party extensions or plugins available in the solution. Adjunction or addition of third-party extensions or plugins to Azure Data Factory can be a great improvement in the tool. Creation of custom codes, custom extensions, or third-party extensions, like Lookup extension, should be made possible in the tool.

I am unsure if Azure Data Factory bridges the gap between on-premises, cloud, and hybrid solutions. I would like to see a version that would work equally well in both on-premises and cloud environments. I would like to see the aforementioned offerings made to customers as valuable alternatives to the old SSIS tool.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Data Factory for many years. I started using the tool since it was called DTS and then, later, SSIS. I currently use Microsoft SQL SSIS 2019.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Joaquin Marques - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO - Founder / Principal Data Scientist / Principal AI Architect at Kanayma LLC
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Provides great consistency that has made implementations less buggy and less complex
Pros and Cons
  • "The function of the solution is great."
  • "Lacks a decent UI that would give us a view of the kinds of requests that come in."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution to quickly instantiate certain components in Azure with the aim of having consistent use of certain components and objects. It provides one point of reference rather than having the need to replicate points of references, and then having to keep them in sync. 

How has it helped my organization?

It has helped our company by providing consistency. For example, by making sure that the way certain objects and components are defined is consistent throughout every step. If things change at any point, they should be reflected at all points. It's the consistency that makes implementations less buggy and less complex.

What is most valuable?

The function is the central point of reference and the most valuable thing about Data Factory.

What needs improvement?

I'd like to see videos on YouTube or the Microsoft site with more detailed implementations. The solution lacks a decent UI that allows us to see what kinds of requests are for what objects and how the population of objects is being requested and compared. Right now we have to look at logs to get an idea of what types of calls the data factory receives in what sequence, for example. It would be nice to be able to see it graphically because we currently have to interpret the logs and then create a graphical representation to have an idea of what's going on. In general, it could be simplified and made more user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are thousands of users so the solution is scalable. 

How are customer service and support?

The customer service is excellent. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I previously used a combination of solutions to achieve the same end. Data Factory simplifies things which is why we switched to it. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was complex. The deployment was carried out in-house and we had around 10 people involved in the implementation. 

What was our ROI?

In terms of time and effort savings, we have a return on our investment. 

What other advice do I have?

It's important to have a good data model before you start using the solution; an idea of the types of data architecture, data objects and components in order to use them. Because of the lack of more user-friendly interfaces, especially for the people debugging the system, I rate this solution eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Gyanendu Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Tech Consultant at Crowe
Real User
Improved flexibility when compared to other solutions
Pros and Cons
  • "I enjoy the ease of use for the backend JSON generator, the deployment solution, and the template management."
  • "I would like to be informed about the changes ahead of time, so we are aware of what's coming."

What is our primary use case?

Azure Data Factory allows us to provide BI service. We pull the data and put it into Synapse. From there, we create our dimension fact tables that are being used for reporting. 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Azure Data Factory is the improved flexibility compared to SSIS that we previously used for our ETL transformation. I also enjoy the ease of use for the backend JSON generator, the deployment solution, and the template management. All we need to do is create ARM templates.

What needs improvement?

Microsoft is constantly upgrading its product. Changes can happen every week. Every time you open Data Factory you see something new and need to study what it is. I would like to be informed about the changes ahead of time, so we are aware of what's coming.

In future releases, I would like to see Azure Data Factory simplify how the information of logs is presented. Currently, you need to do a lot of clicks and go through steps to find out what happened. It takes too much time. The log needs to be more user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Data Factory for two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability depends on the use case. 

How are customer service and support?

As far as customer service and support with Azure Data Factory, we are not always satisfied with the response time. However, once they attend to the issue, everything is good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

All we needed to do was create ARM templates and deployment is easy.

What about the implementation team?

We deployed in-house. For deployment, we use ARM templates that are a part of Azure's deployment strategy. It's not only available for Data Factory, it is built in. It links with DevOps, then the ICD integration.

What other advice do I have?

Azure Data Factory is a good tool. Given that the data platform ecosystem is provided by Microsoft, you know it is good.

I would rate the solution an eight out of ten overall.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer2311983 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Developer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
A cloud-based data integration service that allows you to create data-driven workflows in the cloud for orchestrating
Pros and Cons
  • "For me, it was that there are dedicated connectors for different targets or sources, different data sources. For example, there is direct connector to Salesforce, Oracle Service Cloud, etcetera, and that was really helpful."
  • "It's a good idea to take a Microsoft course. Because they are really helpful when you start from your journey with Data Factory."

What is our primary use case?

I'm not sure how much information I can provide regarding to some kind of security of my company, but I can tell you that we were migrating integrations from from platform to the other, and the other platform was error data factory.

What is most valuable?

For me, it was that there are dedicated connectors for different targets or sources, different data sources. For example, there is direct connector to Salesforce, Oracle Service Cloud, etcetera, and that was really helpful.

What needs improvement?

It's a good idea to take a Microsoft course. Because they are really helpful when you start from your journey with Data Factory.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Data Factory for one year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution doesn't have stability issues. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is easy to scale. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. Deployment is automatic and takes few minutes. 

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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reviewer1656495 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead BI&A Consultant at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Stable and works fine but is relatively crude
Pros and Cons
  • "In terms of my personal experience, it works fine."
  • "Azure Data Factory should be cheaper to move data to a data center abroad for calamities in case of disasters."

What is our primary use case?

We had an old, traditional data warehouse. We decided to put it into the cloud and we used Azure Data Factory to reform the EEL process from SQL server integration services to extra data.

What is most valuable?

Azure Data Factory was chosen by the team that I was not on at the time and who decided that this would be the move to the future. So I just went along with it.

In terms of my personal experience, it works fine.

What needs improvement?

We didn't have a very good experience. The first steps were very easy but it turned out that we used Europe for a Microsoft data center, also partly abroad for our alpha notes. As soon as we started using Azure Data Factory, the bills got higher and higher. At first we couldn't understand why, but it is very expensive to put data into a data center abroad. So instead, we decided to use only Northern Europe, which worked out for a while in the beginning. And then we had nothing to show for it. They gave me a really hard time for this.

Azure Data Factory should be cheaper to move data to a data center abroad for calamities in case of disasters.

What I really miss is the integration of Microsoft TED quality services and Microsoft Data services. If they were to combine those features in Data Factory, I think they would have a very strong proposition. They promise something like that on Microsoft Congress. That was years ago and it's still not here.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Data Factory for a couple of years now, since about 2017.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Azure Data Factory is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes, Azure Data Factory is scalable.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used SSIS because of Microsoft.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We use data engineers to do the install.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We pay monthly for this.

What other advice do I have?

On a scale of one to ten, I would give Azure Data Factory a seven. Compared to Informatica, it's really crude. I think it's a very crude solution. 

Would I recommend Azure Data Factory? It depends if they need a straight reading in data, then I would say it's perfect. But with Informatica, you can do data storing and data quality checks - there is a lot there than just a data center.

I think Azure Data Factory is a mature product. We used Version One in my project and a lot of it isn't possible on this version. The Version Two is much faster and much better. It's not at the same level as Informatica.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Sr. Technology Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Straightforward and scalable but could be more intuitive
Pros and Cons
  • "Data Factory itself is great. It's pretty straightforward. You can easily add sources, join and lookup information, etc. The ease of use is pretty good."
  • "On the UI side, they could make it a little more intuitive in terms of how to add the radius components. Somebody who has been working with tools like Informatica or DataStage gets very used to how the UI looks and feels."

What is our primary use case?

There was a need to bring a lot of CRM and marketing data for some PNL analysis. We are connecting to the Salesforce cloud. In it, there's a specific solution in Salesforce Core CRM for the pharmaceutical industry. We are using the solution to connect to that and we are bringing in the various dimensions and transactions from that data source.

What is most valuable?

Data Factory itself is great. It's pretty straightforward. You can easily add sources, join and lookup information, etc. The ease of use is pretty good. 

They have a lot of other components like a newer monitor, which helps track and generate alerts for any failed jobs and things of that nature, which is helpful.

What needs improvement?

At this point in time, they should work on somehow integrating the big data capabilities within it. I have not explored it, but it would be good if somehow we could call a Spark job or something to do with the Spark SQL within ADS so that we wouldn't need a Spark tested outside.

On the UI side, they could make it a little more intuitive in terms of how to add the radius components. Somebody who has been working with tools like Informatica or DataStage gets very used to how the UI looks and feels. 

In ADS, adding a new table or joining a new table and overriding that with an override SQL that I could customize would be helpful.

Being able to debug from the design mode itself would be helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In the latest version, the v2 version, the solution is pretty stable. It does not give unknown letters or things like that.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution allows you to create reusable components, so it can be scaled pretty easily.

How are customer service and technical support?

Being an IT services company, we have a gold or a platinum partnership with Microsoft. For us, getting the technical support we need is not a big issue. Their community is also pretty active in responding to any issues. It's quite good. We've been satisfied with the level of support that is offered.

How was the initial setup?

We were not actually involved in the initial setup. That was all with the client, so I won't be able to comment on it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In terms of licensing costs, we pay somewhere around S14,000 USD per month. There are some additional costs. For example, we would have to subscribe to some additional computing and for elasticity, but they are minimal. 

For disaster recovery and readability setups, we did that on Data Lake.

What other advice do I have?

We use the public cloud deployment model.

I'd warn others to ensure that the design should be frozen before you start building because overriding each other's code and managing code takes effort. To avoid or to reduce that effort, ensure that the design is frozen. You can build some configurable code rather than hard-coding everything into the jobs. That's the biggest recommendation.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's a pretty good solution, but over the past year, I've been limited on the number of cases I have on it. If it had a better user interface and was more intuitive I would have rated it higher.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Azure Data Factory Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Azure Data Factory Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.