Market Perspectives

We are happy to share some insights about Microsoft drawn from our latest market research, Ventana Research Buyers Guide: DataOps, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

We recently published four Ventana Research 2023 DataOps Buyers Guides, an assessment of technology vendors and products that provide individual and combined DataOps, data observability, data orchestration and data pipeline platform support.

At Ventana Research, we continue to believe that, for most use-cases, there is a clear choice for DataOps platforms for any use in your organization. We developed four technology assessments and buyers guides to focus on overall DataOps requirements as well as specific data observability, data orchestration and data pipeline platform use-cases.

In all of our Buyers Guides, we utilize a structured research methodology called the Value Index that includes evaluation categories designed to reflect real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal (RFP) and vendor selection process for DataOps. We evaluated Microsoft and 17 other vendors in seven categories, five relevant to the product (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and two related to the vendor (TCO/ROI and vendor validation).

In the overall DataOps Buyers Guide, our analysis classified Microsoft as Exemplary, receiving an overall grade of B with a 65.9% performance. Microsoft’s best grouped results came in Customer Experience at 88.6% performance and A grade due in part to its A in TCO/ROI. In Product Experience, Microsoft received a B- grade with a 61.9% performance due to its 69.0% performance in Manageability. Microsoft was designated a Leader in Overall, Product Experience, Customer Experience, Capability, Usability, TCO/ROI and Validation. Microsoft did not participate in the RFI process.

Microsoft’s B- grade in Product Experience was impacted by its C++ in Capability where it could add functionality to address data observability. Customer Experience was impacted by its A- in Validation where it could improve its articulation of customer commitment.

Microsoft performed best in Customer Experience with an A grade, notably in TCO/ROI where it was a Leader with an A grade due to its tools and documentation to help potential customers develop a business case. In Reliability, technology architecture and continuity were strong points, earning Microsoft an A- grade. Microsoft’s API focus led to its healthy performance and B+ grade in Adaptability.

In the Data Orchestration Buyers Guide, our analysis classified Microsoft as Exemplary, receiving an overall grade of B++ with a 78.0% performance. Microsoft’s best grouped results came in Customer Experience at 88.6% performance and an A grade due in part to its A grade in TCO/ROI. In Product Experience, Microsoft received a B++ grade with a 75.1% performance due to its 77.8% performance in Capability. Microsoft was designated a Leader Overall as well as in Product Experience, Customer Experience, Capability, Usability, TCO/ROI and Validation. Microsoft did not participate in the RFI process.

Microsoft’s B++ grade in Product Experience was impacted by its B+ in Manageability where it could enhance administration and configuration. Customer Experience was impacted by its A- grade in Validation where it could better articulate its customer commitment.

Microsoft performed best in Customer Experience with an A grade, notably in TCO/ROI where it received an A due to its documentation and tools to help customers calculate costs. In Usability, intelligence and user experience are strengths. Microsoft’s support for agile and collaborative practices contributed to its B++ grade in Capability.

In the Data Pipelines Buyers Guide, our analysis classified Microsoft as Exemplary, receiving an overall grade of B++ with a 77.6% performance. Microsoft’s best grouped results came in Customer Experience at 88.6% and A grade due in part to its A in TCO/ROI. In Product Experience, Microsoft received a B+ with a 74.6% due to its 76.6% performance in Capability. Microsoft was designated an Overall Leader as well as a Leader in Product Experience, Customer Experience, Capability, Usability, TCO/ROI and Validation. Microsoft did not participate in the RFI process.

Microsoft’s B+ grade in Product Experience was impacted by its B+ grade in Manageability where it could enhance administration and configuration. Customer Experience was impacted by it’s A- grade in Validation where it could better articulate its product roadmap and customer commitment.

Microsoft performed best in Customer Experience with an A grade, notably in TCO/ROI, where its designation as Leader was due to its assistance in building a business case as well as documentation and tools for calculating costs. In Usability, a focus on user experience led to its B+ and Leader designation. Microsoft’s pipeline development and deployment functionality led to a B++ and Leader designation in Capability.

Microsoft did not meet the inclusion criteria for the Data Observability Buyers Guide and thus was not included. 

This assessment was based on Azure Data Factory, Version 2 (June 2023), released June 2023.

This research-based guide is the most comprehensive assessment of the value of DataOps software in the industry. Technology buyers can learn more about how to use our Buyers Guide by clicking here and included vendors that wish to learn more can click here. Click below to read the individual reports:

DataOps Buyers Guide

Data Observability Buyers Guide

Data Orchestration Buyers Guide

Data Pipelines Buyers Guide