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Azure Data Factory vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Data Factory
Ranking in Data Integration
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (3rd)
Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Data Integration
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
181
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (7th), Business-to-Business Middleware (3rd), API Management (7th), Cloud Data Integration (3rd), Data Governance (2nd), Test Data Management (3rd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (1st), Data Masking (2nd), Metadata Management (1st), Test Data Management Services (2nd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Joy Maitra - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates seamless data pipeline creation with good analytics and and thorough monitoring
Azure Data Factory is a low code, no code platform, which is helpful. It provides many prebuilt functionalities that assist in building data pipelines. Also, it facilitates easy transformation with all required functionalities for analytics. Furthermore, it connects to different sources out-of-the-box, making integration much easier. The monitoring is very thorough, though a more readable version would be appreciable.
Raj Sethupathi - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers profiling and address standardization but can be complicated
Informatica Data Quality has its data warehouse, primarily using Oracle and some SQL databases. You need a database to host the data. The cleansed version of the data is stored in the data warehouse. It integrates with PowerCenter and other Informatica tools. The integration details can be complex, but a regional setup is involved in this process. Profiling smaller datasets, such as 10,000-50,000 records, worked fine. However, unexpected issues could arise with larger datasets, such as thousands of records or more, especially with tables containing many columns. Handling tables with fifty or more columns can be challenging, even in Excel. A mismatch in data types could cause the entire system to crash. Continual enhancements are being made to address these issues, which can be unique to specific industries like finance and healthcare.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I enjoy the ease of use for the backend JSON generator, the deployment solution, and the template management."
"ADF is another ETL tool similar to Informatica that can transform data or copy it from on-prem to the cloud or vice versa. Once we have the data, we can apply various transformations to it and schedule our pipeline according to our business needs. ADF integrates with Databricks. We can call our Databricks notebooks and schedule them via ADF."
"It is easy to deploy workflows and schedule jobs."
"An excellent tool for pipeline orchestration."
"Azure Data Factory became more user-friendly when data-flows were introduced."
"This solution has provided us with an easier, and more efficient way to carry out data migration tasks."
"The tool's most valuable features are its connectors. It has many out-of-the-box connectors. We use ADF for ETL processes. Our main use case involves integrating data from various databases, processing it, and loading it into the target database. ADF plays a crucial role in orchestrating these ETL workflows."
"Data Factory's best features include its data source connections, GUI for building data pipelines, and target loading within Azure."
"The most valuable feature is its ability to extract metadata from various sources- be it an old SaaS application or the latest cloud application."
"Whether we need data cleansing or data mastering, we get it all in one platform."
"The interface has a great look and feel, and the functionality is so easy."
"The most valuable features of Informatica MDM are the IDQ and RDM data management."
"In the latest version, I like the outlay of the business roles creation. I like seeing that visualization as you're building it, as opposed to going through metatables or XML mappings. We liked that piece, and it makes it more intuitive for the business."
"It is easy to create REST-based interfaces of the master data objects."
"The most valuable feature is data discovery. This is the most exciting feature for all of the banks."
"The user interface which is very easy to use if we have any problems to solve."
 

Cons

"DataStage is easier to learn than Data Factory because it's more visual. Data Factory has some drag-and-drop options, but it's not as intuitive as DataStage. It would be better if they added more drag-and-drop features. You can start using DataStage without knowing the code. You don't need to learn how the code works before using the solution."
"One area for improvement is documentation. At present, there isn't enough documentation on how to use Azure Data Factory in certain conditions. It would be good to have documentation on the various use cases."
"There is room for improvement primarily in its streaming capabilities. For structured streaming and machine learning model implementation within an ETL process, it lags behind tools like Informatica."
"Real-time replication is required, and this is not a simple task."
"When the record fails, it's tough to identify and log."
"The tool’s workflow is not user-friendly. It should also improve its orchestration monitoring."
"There aren't many third-party extensions or plugins available in the solution."
"Data Factory could be improved by eliminating the need for a physical data area. We have to extract data using Data Factory, then create a staging database for it with Azure SQL, which is very, very expensive. Another improvement would be lowering the licensing cost."
"The regions in which the data resides are still limited. This could be an issue in terms of the data residency laws of some of the countries. They should get more regions."
"I would like to see better visuals for business users, such as a dashboard where they can precisely track where problems are."
"The main issue preventing Brazilian companies from migrating to Informatica Cloud Data Integration from on-prem is the price."
"User/group administration could use improvement."
"The GUI needs to be a little more user-friendly and appealing."
"It can be improved in terms of performance and execution. I'm expecting better performance. It currently has some restrictions in terms of execution. For example, if we want to run it in the command mode and execute it, there are some restrictions, and we are facing some issues with a huge volume of data. These restrictions are not there in Informatica PowerCenter because we are able to execute a huge volume of data, and there are more ways to execute it."
"The integration process is not easy."
"I have received feedback from certain teams and there is a steep learning curve to use this solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Understanding the pricing model for Data Factory is quite complex."
"Data Factory is affordable."
"Product is priced at the market standard."
"I would not say that this product is overly expensive."
"I don't see a cost; it appears to be included in general support."
"The cost is based on the amount of data sets that we are ingesting."
"Azure Data Factory gives better value for the price than other solutions such as Informatica."
"In terms of licensing costs, we pay somewhere around S14,000 USD per month. There are some additional costs. For example, we would have to subscribe to some additional computing and for elasticity, but they are minimal."
"The platform has a premium cost. I rate the pricing as seven out of ten."
"We are quite happy with the licensing model."
"The product is very expensive"
"I rate the licensing cost of Informatica MDM a five out of ten."
"I rate the product's pricing a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price."
"Its pricing model can be improved."
"It's pretty high for us. It's more on the higher side, like low to middle high."
"Cost-wise, I think it is on the higher side, and that is why we are looking for some better options. Licensing costs are huge compared to other players in the market and for my company."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How do you select the right cloud ETL tool?
AWS Glue and Azure Data factory for ELT best performance cloud services.
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica PowerCenter?
Azure Data Factory is flexible, modular, and works well. In terms of cost, it is not too pricey. It offers the stability and reliability I am looking for, good scalability, and is easy to set up an...
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
Azure Data Factory is a solid product offering many transformation functions; It has pre-load and post-load transformations, allowing users to apply transformations either in code by using Power Q...
Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?
Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge...
What are the biggest benefits of using Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
When it comes to cloud data integration, this solution can provide you with multiple benefits, including: Overhead reduction by integrating data on any cloud in various ways Effective integration ...
Is the support provided by Informatica Cloud Data Integration helpful?
The support that Informatica Cloud Data Integration offers is very helpful. We had some issues with the setup of the product, as our team was not experienced with cloud data integration tools. We ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
ActiveVOS, Active Endpoints, BPM, Address Verification, Persistent Data Masking, Cloud Test Data Management, PIM, , Enterprise Data Catalog, Data Integration Hub, Cloud Data Integration, Data Quality, Cloud API and App Integration
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Adobe 2. BMW 3. Coca-Cola 4. General Electric 5. Johnson & Johnson 6. LinkedIn 7. Mastercard 8. Nestle 9. Pfizer 10. Samsung 11. Siemens 12. Toyota 13. Unilever 14. Verizon 15. Walmart 16. Accenture 17. American Express 18. AT&T 19. Bank of America 20. Cisco 21. Deloitte 22. ExxonMobil 23. Ford 24. General Motors 25. IBM 26. JPMorgan Chase 27. Microsoft (Azure Data Factory is developed by Microsoft) 28. Oracle 29. Procter & Gamble 30. Salesforce 31. Shell 32. Visa
The Travel Company, Carbonite
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Data Factory vs. Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.