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Alation Data Catalog vs Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

Alation Data Catalog
Ranking in Data Governance
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (2nd)
Microsoft Purview Complianc...
Ranking in Data Governance
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (23rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of Alation Data Catalog is 5.9%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Governance
 

Featured Reviews

Brahma Lam - PeerSpot reviewer
Has metadata cataloging features but needs changes in domain model
The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature.  The tool's domain model needs to be changed.  Alation Data Catalog is stable.  The solution is scalable.  Alation Data Catalog's deployment is easy. I rate it a nine out of ten. Deployment takes only two to three hours to complete.…
Peter-Murphy - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined data management and improved compliance with efficient document classification
The most valuable feature is data classification retention since I deal with terabytes of data, and managing and monitoring it simplifies the process. Additionally, the system provides a dashboard showing our compliance status, which aids in managing compliance tasks. The compliance score feature allows me to assess and compare our compliance across organizations. I've also noticed efficiency gains, especially in handling subject access requests. Previously, these tasks were manual and time-consuming, but now they are streamlined, reducing the process from weeks to just a day.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms."
"The most valuable features of Alation Data Catalog are the simplicity in onboarding data sources, the security in securing the data sources, and the way the various users of Alation Data Catalog communicate with each other through a messenger."
"The solution is used to query MySQL clients and store data and documentation."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the ALLIE AI feature."
"Alation Data Catalog's best feature is the SQL query publication."
"We had some of our data science engineers, who had built out some cloud-based data and data products for users. They were spending a lot of their time, up to 30 to 35% of their time, answering questions about the data and helping people understand how to use it. Once they were able to document that information within Alation, they were only focusing on around 5% of the high-value questions that really couldn't be solved through the catalog itself. It freed them up to be more productive, it made their end-users more productive, and it made the adoption rate of their data products rise more quickly because people were able to get to using them."
"The most valuable feature is cloud integration."
"The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature."
"The best aspect is that it requires little to no time for implementation if I am using all of Microsoft's tools."
"The most valuable feature is its ability to apply regulations and ensure compliance with various policies. It also provides tools for investigation, risk assessment, and security score evaluations."
"Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager's eDiscovery is essential for organizations using Outlook as their email service."
"Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is tightly integrated with email solutions like Office 365."
"We have more visibility of data and how it is being shared."
"One of the valuable features of the tool is that it works effectively."
"Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is necessary when using Outlook."
"Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is tightly integrated with email solutions like Office 365."
 

Cons

"The interface is not user-friendly."
"The tool's domain model needs to be changed."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
"Alation Data Catalog doesn't support end-to-end lineage. By that, I mean the ability to trace the movement of data from when it first comes into our organization to where it's consumed."
"Although the solution performs far better in terms of data cataloging, its data governance capabilities need improvement."
"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."
"Data observability within Alation would be incredibly helpful for addressing these challenges"
"We have had issues setting up the connectors and getting Alation's support team to resolve issues."
"The speed and accessibility, particularly in the user interface, require significant work."
"There could be improved automation for handling tasks in bulk or in an automated way."
"One area for improvement is the technical support for Purview. With all the other solutions from Microsoft we get really good technical support, but with Purview we had a compliance error and we couldn't find the solution. Purview would not point us to the correct solution, it just indicated the error. We had to troubleshoot it and find out what led to this error. We contacted technical support but it took them one week to identify the root cause of the error."
"Microsoft Purview has moved its portal from classic to premium with some display improvements, yet not much in options and functionalities."
"The customer service experience is not satisfactory. The support staff, who are often outsourced, seem not adequately equipped to handle issues quickly and efficiently."
"Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is a stable product used by organizations utilizing Outlook as their email client. Despite stability, it needs to be more user-friendly and competitive compared to other eDiscovery tools."
"Integrating add-on licenses, which currently offer additional features at a cost, into the base product would be beneficial, especially for a charity organization to avoid incurring extra costs."
"Integrating add-on licenses, which currently offer additional features at a cost, into the base product would be beneficial, especially for a charity organization to avoid incurring extra costs."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"A three-year agreement is better than a one-year rolling 12-month agreement from a price point of view. I'd recommend looking at a three-year deal because you can't stand up a catalog and produce value in 12 months."
"The platform is moderately expensive compared to the other competitors in the market."
"I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected."
"The solution is a little expensive."
"The pricing and licensing are moderate because we have other licenses for Microsoft services. The pricing is in line with that."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alation Data Catalog?
The platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alation Data Catalog?
I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solut...
What needs improvement with Alation Data Catalog?
When issues arise, two key concerns arise. First, how can we perform root cause analysis faster? Second, how can we optimize resource allocation, considering the associated costs? Every customer is...
What do you like most about Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?
We have more visibility of data and how it is being shared.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?
While not cheap, Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is priced at 60% to 70% compared to some competitors. Additional costs may involve OCR page scanning.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?
I am primarily using Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager for data leakage prevention, blocking USBs, and monitoring data sharing through OneDrive and web-based interfaces.
 

Also Known As

Alation
Microsoft Compliance Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
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Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.