Microsoft Azure Synapse: one data platform to rule them all

Apr 19, 2021
  • IT
  • Microsoft

To serve all possible data use cases, you need to be able to combine different types and volumes of data – small, big, structured, and less structured – from various sources. The result is an often-complex setup consisting of multiple technological components that is challenging to build, maintain and secure. Wouldn’t it be simpler if one data platform could serve as a solid foundation to support organizations throughout their entire data journey. With Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft raises the bar for limitless analytics by combining data warehousing, big data, and modern analytics workloads.

From data warehouse and data lakes to data lakehouse, companies use multiple concepts and technologies to turn raw data into useful actions – whether that’s predicting out-of-stock scenarios with advanced analytics or getting insights from machine sensors on the production floor through real-time analytics.

The data warehouse is dead… long live the data warehouse!

Traditionally, structured data from a variety of sources within the company is consolidated in a data warehouse, where it is prepared for easy access, retrieval, reporting, and analytics. Meanwhile, new concepts are on the rise: a data lake will solve all your data needs, and many applications are embedding some standard analytics capabilities within their products. This has caused some people to question the need for data warehouses in general.

However, today’s IT landscapes are more scattered than ever, combining all sorts of applications and different types and volumes of data. The true value of data is only harnessed by combining data from different sources – and that’s exactly what a data warehouse does. By allowing you to execute all kinds of use cases and become more proficient in the way you handle data, it provides you with a solid foundation for becoming more competitive. A great example of this principle in action is the modern data platform at La Lorraine.

Bringing it all together

With its limitless analytics service Azure Synapse – the successor to Azure SQL Data Warehouse – Microsoft is finally bringing enterprise data and big data together.

Through its ability to handle different data streams, Synapse provides organizations with a unified platform to serve all their needs, from modern analytics and big data engineering to adding intelligence through AI and ML. In addition, this platform can be used by all data workers within the organization (from BI developers and data engineers to data scientists).

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