MATLAB vs Azure Synapse Analytics

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Our analysts compared MATLAB vs Azure Synapse Analytics 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

Product Basics

MATLAB is a numerical computing and programming platform that enables users to develop and implement mathematical algorithms, create models and analyze data. Designed for engineers and scientists, it can be used for a range of purposes, including deep learning and machine learning, computational finance, image processing, predictive maintenance, IoT analytics and more. Built around its matrix-based programming language, it can help users run analyses on large data sets as well as design and rigorously test models.

It is available through on-premise installation on Windows and Mac. For eligible licensees, there is also a SaaS version accessible through a web browser. Users can purchase it under a perpetual or annual license, with discounts for academic institutions. For individuals not associated with government agencies, private companies or other organizations, there is a less expensive home license for personal use. Students can purchase a student license for a version designed for coursework and academic research.

Early-stage technology startups can apply for startup-friendly pricing and opportunities.
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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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$980 Annually
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$1.25/Hour, Usage-Based
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Product Insights

  • Get Results Faster: Obtain quicker results through contextual hints, automatic code generation and a fully integrated debugger. Spend less time on programming and troubleshooting.
  • Analyze with Less Code: Teach the platform to automatically generate code to reproduce work and save time, as well as perform tasks such as training machine learning models or labeling data. 
  • Add-Ons For Every Application: Customize and extend the functionality of the core platform through the MATLAB family of add-on products to address specific business needs.
  • Scale Up to Big Data: Scale analyses to process big data by running on clusters, GPUs and clouds. Speed up computation on large data sets without needing to rewrite code or learn big data programming. 
  • Updates and Upgrades: Runs code more than twice as fast as before, due to continual updates and new features on the platform, as well as twice-yearly new releases.
  • Access Anywhere: Sign in to the online platform from any standard web browser, without needing to download and install the application on new machines. Syncs files between computers and the online platform via cloud storage and integration, eliminating the need for manual upload or download. 
  • Enhanced Collaboration: Collaborate by sharing scripts and files directly online or publishing to the web via interactive controls. Easily package or translate analysis for other platforms, or document work and export it to reports for sharing.
  • Free Trial: Try it hands-on with a free 30-day trial. Students whose schools have a campus license can access a free copy of the software without the 30-day trial limitation.
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  • 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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  • Data Import: Import and access a variety of data types, including text files, spreadsheets, images, audio, video, scientific data formats, IoT data, large data sets and more. 
  • Algorithm Development: Develop algorithms with thousands of core mathematical, engineering and scientific functions and tools for debugging, implementation and optimization. 
  • Automate with Machine Learning: Leverage interactive apps to see how algorithms work with data and then tweak to get the desired results. Then, automatically generate a program to reproduce or automate workflows. 
  • Live Editor: Build functions and generate code, creating scripts that can be enhanced with formatting through an interactive editor. Compile these scripts and results into an executable notebook. Explore parameters and immediately see the results, saving time.
  • Data Analysis: Analyze large data sets and big data in a multitude of ways through thousands of prebuilt functions for statistical analysis, machine learning and signal processing.
  • Data Visualization: Turn data into graphics with prebuilt 2D and 3D plots, including line plots, histograms, bar graphs, scatter plots, pie charts, word clouds, maps, polar plots, vector fields and animations.
  • Mathematics: Perform mathematical calculations via a vast library of mathematical functions, including linear algebra, statistics, Fourier analysis, numerical integration, differential equations and more.
  • Modeling: Supports model-based design, multi-domain simulation and automatic code generation via integration with another product from the same vendor, Simulink. Helps in numeric and symbolic modeling and provides mathematical tools like curve fitting, statistics, ODE and PDE solving, calculus and more.
  • Teach with Live Scripts: Build live scripts with its code to let students explore concepts and learn on their own. Create engaging lectures that walk students through explanations, math equations and results, one section at a time. Modify code on the fly to demonstrate how to use math to solve complex problems.
  • App Designer: Create, package and share professional desktop and web apps without needing all the technical know-how of app development. Lay out a graphical user interface through drag-and-drop tools and write the coding for the app’s behavior with an integrated editor and code analyzer that warns about errors in code as it’s written.
  • Community Gallery: See examples from the community on how to display and manipulate data by visiting the plot gallery and live script gallery on the vendor’s website.
  • Programming Integrations: Supports interfacing with other programming languages. Use the platform from within another programming environment without starting a new desktop session through engine APIs that support C/C++, Fortran, Java, Python and more. Call functions and objects from other libraries, including C, C++, Java, Python, .NET, COM objects and more from within the platform. Convert algorithms written in its code to C/C++.
  • Add-Ons: Utilize toolboxes and specialized solutions for fields such as math and optimizations, statistics and data science, code generation, application deployment, database access and reporting. These toolboxes are professionally built, rigorously tested and fully documented. Integrate automated reporting into the platform with richly-formatted custom reports in PDF, Word and HTML formats. 
  • MATLAB Online: Access the platform from any web browser through cloud-based services without downloading and installing the software. 
  • MATLAB Drive: Store, manage and share files from the cloud across devices and work with files from anywhere.
  • Mobile App: Learn and teach through mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. Connect to sessions, and acquire sensor data to analyze and capture images and videos.
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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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Product Ranking

#11

among all
Big Data Analytics Tools

#40

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

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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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User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 4535 reviews
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92%
of users recommend this product

MATLAB has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 92% when considering 4535 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

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4.5 (599)
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Awards

MATLAB stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Service and Support: All users who mentioned support said that online community forums are supportive in helping them leverage the platform to its maximum potential.
Data Processing: Around 92% of users who discussed its data processing capabilities said that the solution helps to simulate and visualize complex mathematical models in an intuitive manner.
Data Analysis: According to 92% of users who reviewed data analysis, the platform, with multiple built-in packages, is useful in exploring data, creating machine learning models and predictive analysis.
Functionality: Citing a range of pre-loaded functions and algorithms, approximately 88% of users who reviewed functionality said that the solution is a powerful tool with a rich feature set and strong computing abilities.
Ease of Use: Reviewing ease of using the tool, approximately 60% of users said that, with detailed documentation being readily available, minimal coding experience is necessary to create and combine scripts.
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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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Performance and Speed: Around 91% of users who reviewed speed said that the platform is resource-hungry in terms of power and space and slows down when performing complex computations.
Cost: Citing licensing costs, approximately 81% of users said that the software is expensive for individual users.
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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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MATLAB is a computing and programming tool that combines the power of functions and algorithms with data integration, modeling and visualization for predictive business data analysis. Users perform complex computations on data sets that the platform ingests from a multitude of data sources to glean business-specific metrics. Citing online communities, all users who reviewed support said that the tool is accessible to beginners, while providing enough depth for advanced users, though some said that the coding syntax could be daunting for non-technical users initially. Around 92% of users who reviewed its analytical capabilities said that the platform provides a wide range of built-in packages to provide out-of-the-box data analysis solutions. With its minimal scripting, many users who discussed data processing said that they could simulate complex mathematical functions to visualize complex data models. Reviewing its functionality, many users said that its rich library and design makes it possible to write powerful programs easily. A majority of users who discussed its performance said that the platform consumes a lot of power and space and slows down when performing complex computations, possibly because updates, though frequent, do not include optimization for older features. Many users who reviewed the cost said that individual user licenses are expensive, and buying additional libraries adds to the cost since many of these have interlinking dependencies, though some users said that the platform provides value for money. In summary, MATLAB is a programming solution that leverages machine learning for data collection and complex computations for users to create data models and visualize enterprise metrics for predictive analysis.

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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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