Azure Machine Learning vs. IBM Cloud Functions

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Machine Learning
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's Azure Machine Learning is and end-to-end data science and analytics solution that helps professional data scientists to prepare data, develop experiments, and deploy models in the cloud. It replaces the Azure Machine Learning Workbench.
$0
per month
IBM Cloud Functions
Score 6.8 out of 10
N/A
IBM Cloud Functions is a PaaS platform based on Apache OpenWhisk. With it, developers write code (“actions”) that respond to external events. Actions are hosted, executed, and scaled on demand based on the number of events coming in. No servers or infrastructure to provision and manage.
$0
per second of execution
Pricing
Azure Machine LearningIBM Cloud Functions
Editions & Modules
Studio Pricing - Free
$0.00
per month
Production Web API - Dev/Test
$0.00
per month
Studio Pricing - Standard
$9.99
per ML studio workspace/per month
Production Web API - Standard S1
$100.13
per month
Production Web API - Standard S2
$1000.06
per month
Production Web API - Standard S3
$9999.98
per month
Basic Cloud Functions Rate
$0.00017
per second of execution
API Gateway Rate
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Machine LearningIBM Cloud Functions
Free Trial
NoNo
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 Machine LearningIBM Cloud Functions
Best Alternatives
Azure Machine LearningIBM Cloud Functions
Small Businesses
InterSystems IRIS
InterSystems IRIS
Score 8.0 out of 10
AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda
Score 8.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Posit
Posit
Score 10.0 out of 10
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Posit
Posit
Score 10.0 out of 10
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Machine LearningIBM Cloud Functions
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(4 ratings)
3.0
(7 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.9
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Machine LearningIBM Cloud Functions
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
For [a] data scientist require[d] to build a machine learning model, so he/she didn't worry about infrastructure to maintain it.
All kind of feature[s] such as train, build, deploy and monitor the machine learning model available in a single suite.
If someone has [their] own environment for ML studio, so there [it would] not [be] useful for them.
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IBM
IBM Cloud Functions [is] not the worse product on the IBM cloud. I decided to write this review as I thought it would be balanced. I would still use functions to set up a serverless architecture where execution time is pretty quick and the code is relatively simple. I wouldn't use IBM Cloud Functions for async calls obviously, as costs could be higher. The functions documentation is lacking in terms of CI/CD, and there are unexplainable errors occurring - like the network connection that I mentioned. So I wouldn't just rely on IBM Cloud Functions too much for the entire system, but make sure it's diversified.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • User friendliness: This is by far the most user friendly tool I've seen in analytics. You don't need to know how to code at all! Just create a few blocks, connect a few lines and you are capable of running a boosted decision tree with a very high R squared!
  • Speed: Azure ML is a cloud based tool, so processing is not made with your computer, making the reliability and speed top notch!
  • Cost: If you don't know how to code, this is by far the cheapest machine learning tool out there. I believe it costs less than $15/month. If you know how to code, then R is free.
  • Connectivity: It is super easy to embed R or Python codes on Azure ML. So if you want to do more advanced stuff, or use a model that is not yet available on Azure ML, you can simply paste the code on R or Python there!
  • Microsoft environment: Many many companies rely on the Microsoft suite. And Azure ML connects perfectly with Excel, CSV and Access files.
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IBM
  • Great substitute for a simple API calls to run non-complicated code.
  • Easy way to run Python/Java/Javascript to get something done.
  • File validation.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • It would be great to have text tips that could ease new users to the platform, especially if an error shows up
  • Scenario-based documentation
  • Pre-processing of modules that had been previously run. Sometimes they need to be re-run for no apparent reason
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IBM
  • Billing can be a hassle, not the most responsive customer service/support team
  • Handles & executes most functionalities, but other platforms offer more scalability if you're seeking consistent and stable growth
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Usability
Microsoft
Easy and fastest way to develop, test, deploy and monitor the machine learning model.
- Easy to load the data set
-Drag and drop the process of the Machine learning life cycle.
Read full review
IBM
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
Support is nonexistent. It's very frustrating to try and find someone to actually talk to. The robot chatbots are just not well trained.
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IBM
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
Not sure
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IBM
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
It is easier to learn, it has a very cost effective license for use, it has native build and created for Azure cloud services, and that makes it perfect when compared against the alternatives. As a Microsoft tool, it has been built to contain many visual features and improved usability even for non-specialist users.
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IBM
  • ICF is a lightweight service and does not require runtime configurations
  • Scalable on demand and hence there is no need to pay for runtime costs
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Productivity: Instead of coding and recoding, Azure ML helped my organization to get to meaningful results faster;
  • Cost: Azure ML can save hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars for an organization, since the license costs around $15/month per seat.
  • Focus on insights and not on statistics: Since running a model is so easy, analysts can focus more on recommendations and insights, rather than statistical details
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IBM
  • It directly affected our expenses since we do not need to deploy and maintain a set of separate applications.
  • It allowed us to pay for only the amount of time cloud functions run.
  • It saved on maintenance and monitoring of the applications it replaced.
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ScreenShots