Azure Synapse Analytics vs WebFOCUS

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Our analysts compared Azure Synapse Analytics vs WebFOCUS based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Big Data Analytics Tools, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Azure Synapse Analytics Software Tool
WebFOCUS Software Tool

Product Basics

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is a comprehensive cloud-based analytics service designed to empower organizations with robust data warehousing and data analytics capabilities. It seamlessly integrates data warehousing and big data analytics, enabling users to ingest, prepare, manage, and serve data for immediate business insights. Key features include scalable resources, real-time analytics, machine learning integration, and a collaborative workspace for data professionals. Azure Synapse Analytics offers benefits such as improved scalability, enhanced data security, and simplified data integration. It's particularly valuable for organizations looking to harness the power of data to make informed decisions and gain a competitive edge in today's data-driven landscape.
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WebFOCUS is a comprehensive data management and analytics platform that enables organizations to access, transform, visualize, and distribute data across multiple platforms. It's particularly well-suited for enterprises with large, complex datasets and a need for robust reporting and analytics capabilities. Key benefits include its ability to unify disparate data sources, create interactive dashboards and visualizations, and automate data-driven workflows. Popular features include its drag-and-drop report builder, self-service data exploration tools, and integration with various business intelligence applications. User experiences generally praise its ease of use, scalability, and ability to handle diverse data types. Pricing is typically based on the number of users, data sources, and required features, with options for both on-premise and cloud-based deployments.

Pros
  • Easy to use interface
  • Handles large datasets
  • Diverse data source integration
  • Customizable reports and dashboards
  • Scalable for enterprise needs
Cons
  • Occasional performance issues
  • Limited out-of-the-box visualizations
  • Upgrades can be complex
  • UI may feel outdated to some
  • Learning curve for advanced features
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$1.25/Hour, Usage-Based
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$50/Three Concurrent Users, Annually
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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • Scalability: Azure Synapse Analytics offers scalable data warehousing, allowing organizations to easily adjust resources to meet their specific needs. This scalability ensures optimal performance and cost-efficiency.
  • Unified Analytics: With Azure Synapse Analytics, users can seamlessly integrate data analytics and data warehousing. This unified approach simplifies data management, analytics, and reporting, leading to faster insights and smarter decision-making.
  • Advanced Security: Security is a top priority in Azure Synapse Analytics. It provides robust security features, including data encryption, authentication, and role-based access control, ensuring that sensitive data remains protected.
  • Data Integration: This platform offers powerful data integration capabilities, allowing users to easily ingest, transform, and load data from various sources. It supports a wide range of data formats and connectors, facilitating seamless data integration workflows.
  • Optimized Performance: Azure Synapse Analytics leverages intelligent caching and query optimization to deliver exceptional query performance. Users can run complex queries on large datasets quickly and efficiently.
  • Real-time Analytics: Organizations can harness real-time data analytics with Azure Synapse Analytics. It supports streaming data, enabling businesses to gain insights from live data streams and make timely decisions.
  • Cost Management: With cost controls and optimization features, Azure Synapse Analytics helps organizations manage their data warehouse expenses effectively. Users can pause and resume resources as needed to control costs.
  • Integration with Azure Ecosystem: Azure Synapse Analytics seamlessly integrates with other Azure services, such as Azure Data Lake Storage and Azure Machine Learning. This integration enables organizations to build end-to-end data solutions within the Azure ecosystem.
  • AI and Machine Learning: Leveraging Azure's AI and machine learning capabilities, Synapse Analytics allows users to build and deploy advanced analytics models, unlocking valuable insights from their data.
  • Global Reach: Azure Synapse Analytics is available in multiple Azure regions worldwide, providing global accessibility and low-latency data processing for organizations with international operations.
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  • Ease of Use: Everyone can access and derive rich insights and helpful information from enterprise data through an intuitive GUI with drag-and-drop ease. Increase adoption and encourage self-service data exploration at all levels of technical knowledge.
  • Make Better Decisions: Empower smarter, more consistent and more accurate proactive decision-making throughout the organization.
  • Faster Time to Insight: Streamline data workflows and analytics processes and efficiently access the most relevant insights through a personalized, interactive home page and enhanced content search.
  • Scalable: Deploy to millions and customize the solution to business needs. Scale up or down, enjoy regular updates and maintain security through the cloud.
  • IT Friendly: Easily deployable and connectable with internal IT resources, with accelerated upgrades. 
  • On-the-Go Information: Stay connected to data through its native mobile app and browser-accessible platform.
  • Strong Vendor Support: The vendor has earned several awards in recent years for its dedication to customer success through professional and friendly service.
  • Free Trial: Request a free 14-day trial of the product through the vendor’s website.
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  • Data Warehousing: Azure Synapse Analytics offers a robust data warehousing solution, allowing organizations to store and manage large volumes of structured and unstructured data efficiently.
  • Analytics Workspace: It provides an integrated analytics workspace for data engineers, data scientists, and analysts to collaborate, explore data, and build advanced analytics models.
  • On-Demand Query Processing: Users can run on-demand queries to extract insights from their data in real-time, without the need for predefined structures or complex ETL processes.
  • Data Integration: Synapse Analytics supports data integration from a variety of sources, enabling users to ingest, transform, and load data with ease.
  • Auto-scaling: The platform offers auto-scaling capabilities, automatically adjusting resources to handle varying workloads, ensuring optimal performance and cost-effectiveness.
  • Security and Compliance: Azure Synapse Analytics includes robust security features, such as encryption, authentication, and access control, to protect sensitive data and maintain compliance with industry regulations.
  • Intelligent Caching: It employs intelligent caching to speed up query performance, reducing latency and enhancing overall data processing efficiency.
  • Real-time Analytics: Users can analyze streaming data in real-time, enabling timely insights and the ability to respond to changing conditions swiftly.
  • Machine Learning Integration: Synapse Analytics seamlessly integrates with Azure Machine Learning, allowing organizations to build, train, and deploy machine learning models for advanced predictive analytics.
  • Collaborative Workspace: It provides a collaborative workspace for teams to collaborate on data projects, facilitating efficient data exploration and analysis.
  • Serverless SQL Pools: Azure Synapse Analytics offers serverless SQL pools, enabling users to query data stored in data lakes without the need for provisioning dedicated resources.
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  • App Studio: Develop customized applications called InfoApps that analyze data and generate insights for end-users. Supported features include data visualization, reporting, drill-downs and more. 
  • Data Visualization: Turn data into content with eye-catching data visualizations. Create and customize a variety of charts that highlight meaningful trends.
  • Pages: Organize visual content and information into interactive, responsive pages that function as dashboards. Drag and drop items onto the canvas and create compelling data stories 
  • BI Portal: Build a complete, modern website that displays key information in one place with zero-training accessibility. Encourage self-service data discovery through drill-down, filters and more. Enable a custom sign-in page for the company.
  • Home Page: Easily navigate to the tools, functions and features used most, with a personalized landing page that displays favorites, last viewed items and more, based on recent activity.
  • Data Management: Streamline data access and data management. Connect to various data sources — including big data — upload and modify files and prepare it for future analysis, all from a single environment. Improves data quality with various data preparation enhancements.
  • Reporting: Create highly complex reports from any enterprise data source. Automate scheduled report distribution to anyone within or outside the organization.
  • In-Document Analysis: Interact with analytics with an integrated, in-document engine that supports data sets and functions similar to Excel. Brought together in singular HTML 5 pages that are accessible even without an internet connection. 
  • Security: Leverage a variety of tools and controls for administering and securing the platform, including role-based access control and granular level security options.
  • Mobile: Run reports, analyses and dashboards from any corporate data source on iOS and Android devices. The native mobile app supports familiar, touch-based gestures for smooth navigation. Find, retrieve and share content, whether online or offline.
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Product Ranking

#40

among all
Big Data Analytics Tools

#50

among all
Big Data Analytics Tools

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Azure Synapse Analytics
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Augmented Analytics Computer Vision And Internet Of Things (IoT) Dashboarding And Data Visualization Data Management Data Preparation Geospatial Visualizations And Analysis Machine Learning Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Reporting 54 63 93 93 78 75 0 57 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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User Sentiment Summary

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Great User Sentiment 439 reviews
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87%
of users recommend this product

WebFOCUS has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 87% when considering 439 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

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4.5 (14)
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4.3 (65)
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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Scalability: Azure Synapse Analytics is praised for its ability to seamlessly scale resources to handle growing data volumes and complex workloads.
Integration: Users appreciate the tight integration with other Azure services, making it easy to build end-to-end data solutions within the Azure ecosystem.
Real-time Insights: The platform's support for real-time data analytics enables users to gain timely insights from streaming data sources, improving decision-making.
Data Security: Azure Synapse Analytics is lauded for its robust security features, including encryption and access controls, ensuring data privacy and compliance.
Data Integration: Users find it user-friendly for integrating data from various sources, simplifying data preparation and analysis.
Performance Optimization: The platform's query optimization and caching mechanisms enhance query performance, even with complex analytical workloads.
Collaboration: Its collaborative workspace fosters teamwork among data professionals, improving productivity and knowledge sharing.
Machine Learning Capabilities: Users appreciate the integration with Azure Machine Learning, allowing them to leverage AI and machine learning for advanced analytics.
Cost Management: Azure Synapse Analytics offers cost-control features that help users manage their data analytics expenses effectively, ensuring cost-efficiency.
Global Reach: Its availability in multiple Azure regions ensures global accessibility and low-latency data processing for organizations with international operations.
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Support: All of the users who mentioned the vendor’s support praised their responsive, helpful support team and dedication to customer success.
Reporting: Around 96% of users who mentioned reporting said that this tool works well for report creation and scheduled distribution.
Data Visualization: About 90% of users who reviewed the tool for data visualization said that it excels in dashboard and chart creation.
Functionality: This is a robust, feature-rich tool with a great degree of flexibility and frequent updates, according to around 76% of users who reviewed the tool’s functionality.
Ease of Use: According to about 63% of users who reviewed the platform’s ease of use, its intuitive drop-and-drop interface simplifies data analysis and visualization.
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Cost Complexity: Some users find managing costs in Azure Synapse Analytics complex, as resource scaling and query optimization may require careful monitoring to avoid unexpected expenses.
Learning Curve: There's a learning curve associated with the platform, especially for users new to Azure services, which can slow down initial adoption and implementation.
Data Volume Challenges: Handling extremely large data volumes can be challenging and may require additional resources, impacting overall cost-effectiveness.
Integration Complexity: While Azure Synapse Analytics integrates well with Azure services, some users have reported challenges when integrating with external systems, which may require custom solutions.
Resource Scaling Time: Scaling resources up or down can take time, affecting immediate query performance during resource adjustments.
Storage Costs: Users have noted that storing data in Azure Data Lake Storage, a common practice, can add to overall costs that need to be carefully managed.
Complex Queries: Executing complex queries may lead to longer processing times and higher resource consumption, impacting query performance and costs.
Resource Provisioning: Some users have experienced challenges when provisioning resources, requiring careful planning and allocation.
Offline Work Limitations: Certain features may require an active internet connection, limiting offline work capabilities, which could be a drawback in specific scenarios.
Support: A few users have reported concerns about the level of support provided, particularly for resolving complex technical issues.
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User Interface: Of the users who mentioned this solution’s UI, approximately 87% said that it looks outdated, especially compared to those of competitors.
Cost: About 83% of users who reviewed it for price said that this solution is expensive, especially when considering add-on modules.
Performance: All of the users who reviewed the platform’s performance and speed mentioned bugs, lag and crashes, among other issues.
Learning Curve: It takes some time to learn this platform, according to about 60% of users who reviewed its learning curve.
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User reviews for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics generally highlight its strengths in scalability, integration, and real-time analytics. Many users appreciate its ability to seamlessly scale resources and integrate with other Azure services, simplifying end-to-end data solutions. The support for real-time data analytics also receives positive feedback for enabling timely decision-making. However, some users note challenges associated with cost management, citing complexity in monitoring and controlling expenses. There's a learning curve for newcomers, which can slow down initial implementation. Handling large data volumes and complex queries may require extra resources and careful optimization. Integration with external systems can be complex, and resource scaling may impact query performance temporarily. In comparison to similar products, users find Azure Synapse Analytics competitive due to its tight integration within the Azure ecosystem and its machine learning capabilities. Despite some limitations, it is viewed favorably for its potential to deliver scalable, real-time insights and drive data-driven decision-making within organizations.

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WebFOCUS offers a feature-rich business intelligence data and analytics platform that unlocks actionable insights and the power of decision-making for users throughout an organization. Rated highly for ease of use by most reviewers, it empowers self-service data discovery with a user-friendly UI that enables drag-and-drop data analysis and visualization; some users noted that this UI looks outdated, especially compared to those of competitors. The platform offers a wide range of prebuilt data visualizations that users can further customize if necessary. This platform excels at creating and designing reports, then distributing them either at-will or through the automated scheduling tool, as noted by a majority of users who reviewed reporting. Most notably, the platform has an outstanding support team - all of the users who reviewed its support expressed satisfaction with their proactive, responsive assistance, citing the vendor’s dedication to the success of their customers as notably apparent. Customers can tailor the platform to their needs, as its flexibility allows for customized solutions. Frequent updates add value over time, though some users remarked that these sometimes break features from older versions. Other performance issues noted in reviews include lags when performing complex queries, infrequent crashes, slow load times and issues when accessing the platform from specific devices or browsers. While easy to pick up and use, especially for the end-user, some reviewers said that there is a learning curve to master the many features of this tool — a few users noted that this learning curve lasted a few months for some team members in their organizations. Overall, WebFOCUS is a worthy pick for self-service data visualization and reporting, especially in the hands of an organization willing to invest the resources and time to make it shine.

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