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Azure Data Factory vs. Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Azure Data Factory

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft's Azure Data Factory is a service built for all data integration needs and skill levels. It is designed to allow the user to easily construct ETL and ELT processes code-free within the intuitive visual environment, or write one's own code. Visually integrate data sources using more than 80 natively built and maintenance-free connectors at no added cost. Focus on data—the serverless integration service does the rest.N/A

    Azure Blob Storage

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AAzure Blob Storage is Microsoft Azure’s object storage service for storing and accessing large volumes of unstructured data. Organizations use it for application content, backups and archives, media, logs, data exports, machine learning datasets, high-performance computing workloads, and data-lake storage. NOTE: Azure Data Lake Storage, also known as Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, is not a separate service or account type. It is a set of big-data analytics capabilities within Azure Blob Storage…

    $0.01

    per GB/per month

    Pricing
    Azure Data FactoryAzure Blob Storage
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Block Blobs
    $0.0081
    per GB/per month
    Azure Data Lake Storage
    $0.0081
    per GB/per month
    Files
    $0.058
    per GB/per month
    Managed Discs
    $1.54
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Azure Data FactoryAzure Blob Storage
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Azure Data FactoryAzure Blob Storage
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Azure Data Factory
    Easier UI, Pipelines & Dataflows with various different sources.
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    10 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    24 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    23 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    25 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    20 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    22 Answers
    Features
    Azure Data FactoryAzure Blob Storage
    Data Source Connection
    Comparison of Data Source Connection features of Azure Data Factory and Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage
    Feature
    Azure Data Factory
    8.5
    10 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage
    -
    Ratings
    Connect to traditional data sources9.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Connecto to Big Data and NoSQL8.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Transformations
    Comparison of Data Transformations features of Azure Data Factory and Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage
    Feature
    Azure Data Factory
    7.8
    10 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage
    -
    Ratings
    Simple transformations8.710 Ratings00 Ratings
    Complex transformations7.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Modeling
    Comparison of Data Modeling features of Azure Data Factory and Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage
    Feature
    Azure Data Factory
    6.2
    10 Ratings
    25% below category average
    Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage
    -
    Ratings
    Data model creation4.37 Ratings00 Ratings
    Metadata management5.48 Ratings00 Ratings
    Business rules and workflow6.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Collaboration7.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Testing and debugging6.310 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Governance
    Comparison of Data Governance features of Azure Data Factory and Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage
    Feature
    Azure Data Factory
    5.6
    10 Ratings
    36% below category average
    Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage
    -
    Ratings
    Integration with data quality tools4.310 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with MDM tools7.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Azure Data FactoryAzure Blob Storage
    Small Businesses
    Skyvia
    Score10 out of 10
    Google Cloud Storage
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM InfoSphere Information Server
    Score10 out of 10
    Everpure FlashBlade
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SolarWinds Task Factory
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Google Cloud Storage
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Azure Data FactoryAzure Blob Storage
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.3
    (10 ratings)
    9.1
    (25 ratings)
    Usability
    7.7
    (3 ratings)
    8.9
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Azure Data FactoryAzure Blob Storage
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Best scenario is for ETL process. The flexibility and connectivity is outstanding. For our environment, SAP data connectivity with Azure Data Factory offers very limited features compared to SAP Data Sphere. Due to the limited modelling capacity of the tool, we use Databricks for data modelling and cleaning. Usage of multiple tools could have been avoided if adf has modelling capabilities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    In Azure, it is the storage to use, and in my view, the Blob Storage offers more, or finer-grained configuration options, than S3. So my recommendation would be to check in detail what is offered. As the Blob Storage is more or less a Microsoft exclusive product, the "interoperability" is more limited than, for example, with S3. The S3 is more widely adopted, and if you cannot exclude a migration scenario from one cloud provider to another, additional effort is needed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Data Ingestion - it works very well with numerous data sources.
    • Data pipeline orchestration: It is a generic, popular tool for orchestrating data pipelines.
    • Works well in Azure ecosystem, Azure services and data platforms like Databricks.
    • It is a serverless and scalable solution for cloud data integration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • The data lake analytics tool is good and provides loads of computing power to speed up the processing time.
    • It provides unlimited storage for structured, semi-structured or unstructured data.
    • Cloud-based service and we can easily use it for ETL and ELT processes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Granularity of Errors: Sometimes, Azure Data Factory provides error messages that are too generic or vague for us, making it challenging to pinpoint the exact cause of a pipeline failure. Enhanced error messages with more actionable details would greatly assist us as users in debugging their pipelines.
    • Pipeline Design UI: In my experience, the visual interface for designing pipelines, especially when dealing with complex workflows or numerous activities, can become cluttered. I think a more intuitive and scalable design interface would improve usability. In my opinion, features like zoom, better alignment tools, or grouping capabilities could make managing intricate designs more manageable.
    • Native Support: While Azure Data Factory does support incremental data loads, in my experience, the setup can be somewhat manual and complex. I think native and more straightforward support for Change Data Capture, especially from popular databases, would simplify the process of capturing and processing only the changed data, making regular data updates more efficient
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • study for the certifications also to have them as a reference for work when you have any questions about applying a configuration to the equipment.
    • The Internet interface is simple and easy to use. Capacity is good and it's good that HP continues to innovate with this technology
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    So far product has performed as expected. We were noticing some performance issues, but they were largely Synapse related. This has led to a shift from Synapse to Databricks. Overall this has delayed our analytic platform. Once databricks becomes fully operational, Azure Data Factory will be critical to our environment and future success.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Blob storage is fairly simple, with several different options/settings that can be configured. The file explorer has enhanced its usability. Some areas could be improved, such as providing more details or stats on how many times a file has been accessed. It is an obvious choice if you're already using Azure/Entra.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    We have not had need to engage with Microsoft much on Azure Data Factory, but they have been responsive and helpful when needed. This being said, we have not had a major emergency or outage requiring their intervention. The score of seven is a representation that they have done well for now, but have not proved out their support for a significant issue
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft has improved its customer service standpoint over the years. The ability to chat with an issue, get a callback, schedule a call or work with an architecture team(for free) is a huge plus. I can get mentorship and guidance on where to go with my environment without pushy sales tactics. This is very refreshing. Typically support can get me to where I need to be on the first contact, which is also nice.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    Azure Data Factory helps us automate to schedule jobs as per customer demands to make ETL triggers when the need arises. Anyone can define the workflow with the Azure Data Factory UI designer tool and easily test the systems. It helped us automate the same workflow with programming languages like Python or automation tools like ansible. Numerous options for connectivity be it a database or storage account helps us move data transfer to the cloud or on-premise systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Azure Premium Blob offers better latency than competitors. It works best with the Azure ecosystem, and competitors lack it. Azure Blob even stands out in storage durability, providing up to 16 nines. It can have various use cases that can suit all the organisation's needs. The Azure Blob solution can also be deployed on-premises.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Facilitate better decision-making and improve business processes.
    • Optimize business process outcomes by increasing internal efficiency and operational effectiveness.
    • Boosts revenue growth while improving business process agility.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Data Migration projects from relational sources to Azure Data Lake Storage have given a great ROI, thanks to the less running costs, and High availability
    • Pretty easy to work with in terms of Managing and accessing Data in containerized fashion.
    • Further features like Archival of data which is accessed less frequently can significantly reduce cost
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots