In short
Visian designs and industrialises Azure Data Factory pipelines: ingestion from application and cloud sources, as-code deployment, separate environments and flow monitoring. ADF fits when the platform runs on Azure and sources are many and varied.
Azure Data Factory
The technology
Azure Data Factory is Microsoft Azure's data integration service: pipeline orchestration, connectors to application and cloud sources, transformations and scheduling.
Pipelines built in the interface quickly become hard to maintain. Scaling requires as-code deployment, separate environments and pipeline monitoring.
Commitments
Visian engagements on Azure Data Factory
- Design and development of ingestion pipelines
- As-code deployment (ARM, Bicep, Terraform) and CI/CD across environments
- Migration from Talend, SSIS or legacy scripts
- Monitoring, alerting and run-cost analysis
- Integration with Azure SQL, Synapse, Fabric or Databricks
These engagements are part of the Data platformexpertise, on a fixed-price, time-and-materials or service-centre basis.
References
Client cases
- Transavia · Airline, Data Engineering
Comparison
Azure Data Factory, Databricks Workflows or Airflow
| Tool | Type | Strength | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Data Factory | Managed Azure service, visual design | Native connectors, Azure integration | Ingestion from varied application and cloud sources |
| Databricks Workflows | Orchestration built into Databricks | No extra tool | Processing already centred on Databricks |
| Apache Airflow | Open source, pipelines in Python | Flexibility, cloud independence | Teams comfortable with code and operations |
Key figures
Facts and figures
- 350 data & AI consultants and 120+ projects delivered since 2016 (Visian, 2026).
- 98% of FinOps teams manage AI costs in 2026, up from 31% in 2024, and 72% of organisations had an unexpected AI bill spike during the year (Visian white paper FinOps Data & IA, 2026).
Frequently asked questions
Azure Data Factory: FAQ
Azure Data Factory or Microsoft Fabric?
Fabric integrates Data Factory with OneLake storage and Power BI. For an already structured Azure estate, Data Factory alone remains relevant; for a new Microsoft foundation, Fabric simplifies the whole.
Can Talend flows be migrated to Azure Data Factory?
Yes. Migration starts with an inventory of flows and their rationalisation, followed by a batch rewrite with data regression tests.