Which one should you use for your
data project? Let’s break it down!
Abhishek Agrawal
👉 Swipe to explore. Azure Data Engineer
Purpose: Data orchestration and integration
Key Use Case: Moving and transforming data
(ETL/ELT)
Strength: Low-code, supports hybrid data sources
Best For:
Building pipelines to move data
Managing large-scale data workflows
Example: Integrating data from on-premises to
cloud storage.
Abhishek Agrawal | Azure Data Engineer
Purpose: Analytics + data integration
Key Use Case: Unified big data + data warehouse
analytics
Strength: Combines SQL, Spark, and pipelines in one
platform
Best For:
Data exploration and warehousing
Analytics on structured and unstructured data
Example: Running analytics on a data lake with SQL
and Spark.
Abhishek Agrawal | Azure Data Engineer
Purpose: Unified SaaS platform for all data needs
Key Use Case: Combines integration, warehousing,
lakehouse, analytics, and BI
Strength: All-in-one solution under Microsoft
OneLake
Best For:
End-to-end data management
Simplifying data architecture for modern
projects
Example: Managing data integration, warehousing,
and reporting in a single platform.
Abhishek Agrawal | Azure Data Engineer
Comparison Table
Features
Main Focus Integration Analytics Unified Platform
ETL/ELT Support
Analytics
BI Integration Limited
Ease of Use Low-code Moderate User-friendly SaaS
Abhishek Agrawal | Azure Data Engineer
Conclusion
Choose Azure Data Factory if:
You need ETL pipelines and data movement.
Choose Azure Synapse Analytics if:
You need analytics + data warehousing in one tool.
Choose Azure Fabric if:
You want a complete, unified solution for integration,
storage, analytics, and BI.
Key Tip: Azure Fabric is the future of integrated data
solutions in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Abhishek Agrawal | Azure Data Engineer
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Abhishek Agrawal
Azure Data Engineer