Capabilities

In addition to SQL Server SSIS, Microsoft’s on-premise ETL solution, the company also offers Azure Data Factory (ADF), an ETL tool for their cloud-based Azure platform. Because they’re both from Microsoft, Data Factory has nice interoperability with SSIS: if you’re making the jump from an on-premise SQL Server setup to Azure, you’ll be able to deploy the SSIS packages you’ve already developed in Data Factory. ETL pipelines in ADF are built in a graphical interface, allowing for low-code use, and the package has a wide variety of data connectors for easy data ingestion. At the other end of the pipe, Data Factory can generally only be used to load into Azure data warehouses, so this solution makes sense for those who want to live entirely in a Microsoft ecosystem.