Successful digital transformation depends on having data accessible and organized in the cloud. By building a stronger data ecosystem, businesses can optimize and accelerate the value of the data that surrounds every transaction, interaction, process and recommendation that flows through it.

I’ve never seen a better moment for our clients to drive data transformation and unleash innovation. At Ignite, Microsoft and Databricks announced they were strengthening their partnership to help organizations harness more value from their data. The Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform will now incorporate Azure Databricks as a key component of an open, governed lakehouse foundation. And Azure Databricks unequivocally is architected alongside Azure Synapse in Microsoft’s analytics platform to power machine learning and artificial intelligence at scale.

What the Databricks-Microsoft partnership means for our clients
We’re thrilled to see an even stronger integrated partnership across Databricks and Microsoft. We work closely with both companies, and the updated Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform delivers more flexibility to Avanade clients. With a stronger data foundation, you can find the insights and efficiencies that differentiate and grow your business.

Today, we’re confirming that all our architected client data platforms already align to Microsoft’s vision for data and analytics. That’s well over 1,000 client Azure data platform projects since Azure Synapse went general availability almost two years ago. Through this work we continue to help clients achieve data modernization outcomes that depend on better using data to drive action and generate value. And our clients are achieving their data, analytics and artificial intelligence aspirations by ensuring their core data landscape has been migrated to the Microsoft Azure cloud, where they can leverage the advantages that Azure Databricks and Azure Synapse deliver together.

Synapse + Databricks = Better together
Today, Avanade is launching a white paper that explains what’s possible when you harness the best of both platforms. While the point of view is uniquely ours, we’re grateful for the review and contributions from both Databricks and Microsoft teams.

So, what’s at stake? Many organizations look to either Azure Databricks or Azure Synapse to harness data-driven insights; they’re both Microsoft first-party services by the way. But Azure Databricks and Azure Synapse are complementary, not competitive. Together they enable the broadest and most demanding analytics and AI workloads: across data engineering, streaming, data science, machine learning and dashboarding. Each of these platform services has its own place in the modern data architecture. Using both together allows you to harness maximum value from all your data across Azure.

Using both platform services can drive great efficiency and cost effectiveness. Both are first-party Azure services accessible through your Azure environment, with no additional, third-party license costs for their use. Because they’re based on Azure, and not legacy platforms, either Databricks or Synapse – or both – can be easily mobilized and scaled.

When might an organization need both platform services? For one example: A manufacturing business may need the business-critical machine learning capabilities of Azure Databricks to operate factory production lines, while also needing Azure Synapse to support fast daily decisions on the shop floor.

Why Avanade is your best choice for data transformation with Databricks+Synapse
Avanade is uniquely suited to drive data transformation success with clients across Databricks and Microsoft platforms. As a joint venture of Microsoft and Accenture, Avanade has privileged access to Microsoft technology, including the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform, Azure and beyond. We offer to clients more certified professionals for Microsoft Azure than any other Microsoft partner. We’re also proud to be the 17-time award winner of the Microsoft Global SI Alliance Partner of the Year – more than any other partner.

We maintain our own deep partnership with Databricks. Since 2018, the two companies have worked closely together to build end-to-end enterprise data platforms for public and private sector clients around the world. We’re proud recipients of the 2022 Databricks Global Partner of the Year, for the fourth year in a row, as well as seven regional Partner of the Year awards in that timeframe.

Get started today
See what’s possible when your organization can harness total data transformation by leveraging both Databricks and Synapse together. I invite you to download our white paper today.

Want to fast-track what’s possible with Avanade and data modernization? Contact us and request a Data Value Workshop, where we’ll co-create a plan that jumpstarts your data strategy with rapid insights on where, why and how to move forward.