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Alation Data Catalog vs Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management comparison

Alation and Microsoft are both solutions in the Data Governance category. Alation is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.4, while Microsoft is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.0. Alation holds a 5.9% mindshare in DG, compared to Microsoft’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 76% of Alation users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.
Alation Data Catalog
Read 11 Alation Data Catalog reviews
  • 5,876 Views
  • 3,492 Comparison Views
76% willing to recommend
Microsoft Purview Data Life...
Read 2 Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management reviews
  • 254 Views
  • 133 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Alation Data Catalog and Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Data Governance solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

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To learn more, read our detailed Alation Data Catalog vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management Report (Updated: March 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Alation Data Catalog vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
March 2025
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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 Data Life...
Ranking in Data Governance
25th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (32nd)
 

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 Data Lifecycle Management is 0.4%, up from 0.3% 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.…
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Al Mcpherson - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides clear visibility into our entire information estate, reduces our time to action, and saves us time
The integration across Azure is straightforward. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management has been a game-changer for our data governance. We now have clear visibility into our entire information estate, allowing us to pinpoint data location and implement effective classification. Even though real-time compliance isn't a current need, Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management offers that capability for future requirements. Purview Data Lifecycle Management has reduced our time to action – since we previously lacked such a tool, it's effectively cut our response time in half. Purview Data Lifecycle Management has saved us one working day per month.
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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."
"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 tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature."
"Given the relatively low level of maturity, Alation's most relevant feature at the moment is a user interface that's easy to navigate, which helps us find and understand the data. So while Alation has a lot more functionality, our pain point right now is being able to easily find, understand, and trust the information to use it."
"Alation Data Catalog provides a nice interface for connecting to the database, querying the data, and working on it."
"The solution is used to query MySQL clients and store data and documentation."
"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."
More Alation Data Catalog pros
"The UI is the most valuable feature."
"The automatic data labeling is compelling, and we are investigating its use."
"Purview's built-in functionality provides immediate access to reports, streamlining the entire process."
 

Cons

"Data observability within Alation would be incredibly helpful for addressing these challenges"
"The interface is not user-friendly."
"Alation Data Catalog needs to develop a lot in terms of data governance and would be improved with a built-in interactive data quality solution."
"We have had issues setting up the connectors and getting Alation's support team to resolve issues."
"The tool's domain model needs to be changed."
"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."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
More Alation Data Catalog cons
"Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management can be challenging to implement due to its complexity and dense documentation, making it difficult to get started."
"Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management can be challenging to implement due to its complexity and dense documentation, making it difficult to get started."
"Microsoft's Purview Data Lifecycle Management preview features can be unreliable, hindering their usefulness."
 

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."
"The solution is a little expensive."
"I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected."
"The service operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, charging an extra one cent per field of metadata scanned in our data."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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.
See all answers
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...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management?
We opted for Purview Data Lifecycle Management due to its significant cost advantage over competitors. At a 95 percent price reduction, it was a clear winner. The service operates on a pay-as-you-g...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management?
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management can be challenging to implement due to its complexity and dense documentation, making it difficult to get started.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management?
We use Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management for labeling our data.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Microsoft Purview Data Governance vs Alation Data Catalog Logo
Microsoft Purview Data Governance vs Alation Data Catalog
Compared 37% of the time
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Alation Data Catalog Logo
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Alation Data Catalog
Compared 16% of the time
Collibra Governance vs Alation Data Catalog Logo
Collibra Governance vs Alation Data Catalog
Compared 12% of the time
Ataccama ONE Platform vs Alation Data Catalog Logo
Ataccama ONE Platform vs Alation Data Catalog
Compared 4% of the time
erwin Data Intelligence by Quest vs Alation Data Catalog Logo
erwin Data Intelligence by Quest vs Alation Data Catalog
Compared 4% of the time
More Alation Data Catalog Competitors
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management Logo
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
Compared 100% of the time
More Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Alation Data Catalog
April 2025
Alation Data Catalog reportDownload Alation Data Catalog product report
Buyer's Guide
Data Governance
April 2025
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management reportDownload Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management product report
 

Also Known As

Alation
Microsoft Information Governance
 

Overview

Alation pioneered the data catalog market and is now leading its evolution into a platform for a broad range of data intelligence solutions including data search & discovery, data governance, lineage, stewardship, analytics, and digital transformation.

Thanks to its powerful Behavioral Analysis Engine, inbuilt collaboration capabilities, and open interfaces, Alation combines machine learning with human insight to successfully tackle even the most demanding challenges in data and metadata management. With Alation, analysts are empowered to search, query and collaborate on their data to achieve faster, more accurate insights.

Trusted by 400+ enterprises worldwide like Salesforce, Nasdaq, LinkedIn, Finnair, and Cisco.

Alation

Use Microsoft Information Governance (sometimes abbreviated to MIG) capabilities to govern your data for compliance or regulatory requirements.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft
 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
Information Not Available
Buyer's Guide
Alation Data Catalog vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
March 2025
Free Report: Alation Data Catalog vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
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