Microsoft'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.
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SAP BW/4HANA
Score 8.2 out of 10
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SAP BW/4HANA is a next-generation
data warehouse solution. It is specifically designed to use the advanced
in-memory capabilities of the SAP HANA platform. For example, SAP BW/HANA can
integrate many different data sources to provide a single, logical view of all
the data. This could include data contained in SAP and non-SAP applications
running on-premise or in the cloud, and data lakes, such as those contained in
the Apache Hadoop open-source software framework. With SAP BW/4HANA,…
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Pricing
Azure Data Factory
SAP BW/4HANA
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Data Factory
SAP BW/4HANA
Free Trial
No
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Yes
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
Optional
Additional Details
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More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure Data Factory
SAP BW/4HANA
Features
Azure Data Factory
SAP BW/4HANA
Data Source Connection
Comparison of Data Source Connection features of Product A and Product B
Azure Data Factory
9.0
7 Ratings
7% above category average
SAP BW/4HANA
-
Ratings
Connect to traditional data sources
9.07 Ratings
00 Ratings
Connecto to Big Data and NoSQL
9.07 Ratings
00 Ratings
Data Transformations
Comparison of Data Transformations features of Product A and Product B
Azure Data Factory
8.5
7 Ratings
3% above category average
SAP BW/4HANA
-
Ratings
Simple transformations
9.07 Ratings
00 Ratings
Complex transformations
8.07 Ratings
00 Ratings
Data Modeling
Comparison of Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Azure Data Factory
7.3
7 Ratings
8% below category average
SAP BW/4HANA
7.0
1 Ratings
12% below category average
Data model creation
8.05 Ratings
7.01 Ratings
Metadata management
7.06 Ratings
00 Ratings
Business rules and workflow
7.07 Ratings
00 Ratings
Collaboration
6.16 Ratings
00 Ratings
Testing and debugging
7.07 Ratings
00 Ratings
Data Governance
Comparison of Data Governance features of Product A and Product B
Azure Data Factory
7.5
7 Ratings
9% below category average
SAP BW/4HANA
-
Ratings
Integration with data quality tools
7.07 Ratings
00 Ratings
Integration with MDM tools
8.07 Ratings
00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Well-suited Scenarios for Azure Data Factory (ADF): When an organization has data sources spread across on-premises databases and cloud storage solutions, I think Azure Data Factory is excellent for integrating these sources. Azure Data Factory's integration with Azure Databricks allows it to handle large-scale data transformations effectively, leveraging the power of distributed processing. For regular ETL or ELT processes that need to run at specific intervals (daily, weekly, etc.), I think Azure Data Factory's scheduling capabilities are very handy. Less Appropriate Scenarios for Azure Data Factory: Real-time Data Streaming - Azure Data Factory is primarily batch-oriented. Simple Data Copy Tasks - For straightforward data copy tasks without the need for transformation or complex workflows, in my opinion, using Azure Data Factory might be overkill; simpler tools or scripts could suffice. Advanced Data Science Workflows: While Azure Data Factory can handle data prep and transformation, in my experience, it's not designed for in-depth data science tasks. I think for advanced analytics, machine learning, or statistical modeling, integration with specialized tools would be necessary.
Some scenarios where SAP BW/4HANA is well suited are retail industry, supply chain, finance, warehouse, stocking processes, BI, [and] some finance analytics reporting. Some scenarios where SAP BW/4HANA is less appropriate [is when] relational queries are needed [and] in some small business with infrastructure limitations. Another scenario that is less appropriate is for ABAP processes requirements.
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.
SAP BW/4HANA requires specialized skillsets around data warehouse modeling and the access to data, however the modeling capabilities are intuitive and have now become accessible to both SAP and non-SAP data warehouse specialists. This new model allows for Interchangeable skillsets and access to a broader pool of experts throughout the industry, as well as easier access to data.
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
SAP Max Attention and general support for SAP BW/4HANA is broadly available. Truth to be told, MaxAttention has a premium cost but brings great engineers. So this being an enterprise capability and extremely critical, we did not consider cost as the main factor since support works well. Just keep that in mind when making your selection.
The easy integration with other Microsoft software as well as high processing speed, very flexible cost, and high level of security of Microsoft Azure products and services stack up against other similar products.
SAP Analytics Cloud is complemented by SAP BW/4 HANA through connectors that work in real-time and allow the display of indicator information in interactive and user-friendly visualizations. SAP Data Services integrates with BW/4 HANA allowing to automate the loading of information in the system taking as a data source a wide variety of platforms.