Analytical types that Azure Synapse Analytics

Descriptive analytics

o Descriptive analytics answers the question “What is happening in my business?”

o The data to answer this question is typically answered through the creation of a data warehouse.

Diagnostic analytics

o Diagnostic analytics deals with answering the question “Why is it happening?”.

o This may involve exploring information that already exists in a data warehouse, but typically involves a wider search of your data estate to find more data to support this type of analysis.

Predictive analytics

o Azure Synapse Analytics also enables you to answer the question “What is likely to happen in the future based on previous trends and patterns?” by using its integrated Apache Spark engine.

o Azure Synapse Spark pools can be used with other services such as Azure Machine Learning Services, or Azure Databricks.

Prescriptive analytics

o This type of analytics looks at executing actions based on real-time or near real-time analysis of data, using predictive analytics.

o Azure Synapse Analytics provides this capability through both Apache Spark, Azure Synapse Link, and by integrating streaming technologies such as Azure Stream Analytics.