Azure Data Factory vs. Qlik Replicate

Azure Data Factory is a great data integration tool for developing a cloud data platform, especially within the Azure ecosystem. Azure Data Factory is very good for the Data Ingestion part. It can work for simple data transformation with its Data Flow, but it will also need cluster configuration, and there is some cost. Also, it is an excellent tool for orchestrating data pipelines. But for complex data transformations, you may need to use technologies like Databricks and PySpark.

Incentivized

Qlik Replicate works very well with relational data platforms, both on premise and in the cloud, for example Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL and others, it also works very well with DB2. If the data source is MongoDB, it is more complicated and currently there is no possibility of sending data to MongoDB.

• It allows copying data from various types of data sources like on-premise files, Azure Database, Excel, JSON, Azure Synapse, API, etc. to the desired destination.
• We can use linked service in multiple pipeline/data load.
• It also allows the running of SSIS & SSMS packages which makes it an easy-to-use ETL & ELT tool.

Incentivized

• Qlik Replicate brought a great experience with respect to the ease of implementation and great UI. We had a software that was a blackbox for the team and was very hard to maintain. Qlik Replicate implementation helped us avoid dependency on one resource.
• Global transformation and in-built functions are what I like in our project.
• You can customize the conversion/transformation using a JSON file generated by Qlik Replicate, and it is very convenient.

Incentivized

• Limited source/sink (target) connectors depending on which area of Azure Data Factory you are using.
• Does not yet have parity with SSIS as far as the transforms available.

Incentivized

• The base Replicate web GUI is lacking. If you have dozens or more tasks, it's hard to get a sense of how they're performing. Enterprise Manager solves all of these problems but is a separate install.
• The support portal is extremely difficult to navigate. It's hard to track down exactly what you're looking for.
• It would be helpful to have better documentation and example queries for the tables in the Enterprise Manager analytics database.
• Destination databases that don't support common DDL commands behave unpredictably. And the replication of schema changes isn't consistent.

Incentivized

The availability of the replicated data in disparate environments has is now crucial. Replacing a product like Qlik Replicate would require significant time, investments, and work. In addition, Qlik Replicate is reasonably reliable with few failures.

Incentivized

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

We now have greater business flexibility and scalability, and our big data integration projects have a quick rate of growth, which has been profitable for us. Independent of the sources involved, maintaining data consistency between sources is easy. One of my favorite features is the way it lets owners of the source system start and stop processes from updating their system windows.

Incentivized

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

The issue I've had is that Qlik does an awful job of keeping their customers informed when new versions of the software are available. We found that we were using a version that was no longer supported and could never get help. When it came time to get us upgraded so that we were on a current version, no one knew how to help get us to where we needed to be. We had to purchased professional services time and even then I was basically on my own to get everything built out and set up. Qlik needs to be more proactive with communicating about new releases and how to get your version upgraded in the most secure, safe way possible.

Incentivized

Follow the directions from the Qlik documentation. They are pretty straight forward and easy enough to follow. If you follow these, then you are not likely to have issues on implementation.

Incentivized

Azure Data Factory is more of a universal pipeline. SAP BW is a tool offering good SAP connectivity but very limited third-party connectivity. The same is the case with BW4hana. SAP Datasphere is offering better connectivity with SAP sources, but not so good when compared to adf. Power Center of Informatica is a legacy tool, and Anaplan is a planning tool with limited connectivity options.

Incentivized

Great tool for data replication solution for Oracle/SQLServers/etc. Real easy to get it set up and start realizing business value. Getting the PoC accomplished in a short window. Product costing and easy to start small and scale as needed. It helped cover most of our ask compared to other solutions.

Incentivized

• Cost Savings: By automating our ETL processes with Azure Data Factory, we've reduced manual data handling by approximately 60%. This translates to savings from reduced man-hours and the overhead of maintaining legacy systems.
• Timeliness: Our report generation time has reduced by 70% with Azure Data Factory's scheduled pipelines. Faster insights mean quicker decisions for us, enabling our teams to capitalize on time-sensitive opportunities. We can easily share the data visualizations to all stakeholders.

Incentivized

• Prior to using Qlik Replicate, we used an ETL solution to copy data from the Oracle ERP system to the Microsoft SQL Server BI system at a 15-minute interval. It was very tedious to maintain. Qlik Replicate is much easier to use and we replicate data near real-time now.

Incentivized