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Azure Data Factory vs Informatica PowerCenter comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Data Factory
Ranking in Data Integration
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (3rd)
Informatica PowerCenter
Ranking in Data Integration
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Data Visualization (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Azure Data Factory is 11.0%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica PowerCenter is 11.0%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Q&A Highlights

PiyushAgarwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 23, 2023
 

Featured Reviews

Thulani David Mngadi - PeerSpot reviewer
Data flow feature is valuable for data transformation tasks
The workflow automation features in GitLab, particularly its low code/no code approach, are highly beneficial for accelerating development speed. This feature allows for quick creation of pipelines and offers customization options for integration needs, making it versatile for various use cases. GitLab supports a wide range of connectors, catering to a majority of integration needs. Azure Data Factory's virtual enterprise and monitoring capabilities, the visual interface of GitLab makes it user-friendly and easy to teach, facilitating adoption within teams. While the monitoring capabilities are sufficient out of the box, they may not be as comprehensive as dedicated enterprise monitoring tools. GitLab's monitoring features are manageable for production use, with the option to integrate log analytics or create custom dashboards if needed. The data flow feature in Azure Data Factory within GitLab is valuable for data transformation tasks, especially for those who may not have expertise in writing complex code. It simplifies the process of data manipulation and is particularly useful for individuals unfamiliar with Spark coding. While there could be improvements for more flexibility, overall, the data flow feature effectively accomplishes its purpose within GitLab's ecosystem.
Lars Borchers - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable and reliable product that provides a variety of features for data integration
The solution is not for newcomers. It has an old touch. The solution must improve the integration with new services. It was part of the program at Informatica when they moved to their cloud platform. It is integrated. However, from an on-premise perspective, we need to buy licenses for PowerExchange. If we want a native driver to access a special service, we need to extend our license to those services. It is expensive. I don't like that it's not all included in the solution.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Azure Data Factory is the core features that help you through the whole Azure pipeline or value chain."
"The feature I found most helpful in Azure Data Factory is the pipeline feature, including being able to connect to different sources. Azure Data Factory also has built-in security, which is another valuable feature."
"One of the most valuable features of Azure Data Factory is the drag-and-drop interface. This helps with workflow management because we can just drag any tables or data sources we need. Because of how easy it is to drag and drop, we can deliver things very quickly. It's more customizable through visual effect."
"It makes it easy to collect data from different sources."
"The most valuable features are data transformations."
"I like the basic features like the data-based pipelines."
"The most valuable aspect is the copy capability."
"For me, it was that there are dedicated connectors for different targets or sources, different data sources. For example, there is direct connector to Salesforce, Oracle Service Cloud, etcetera, and that was really helpful."
"Has a good visual tool for data mapping."
"The greatest feature is that it is very easy to have someone come in and jump right in. It is one of the nicest tools in terms of getting a person acquainted quickly."
"Informatica PowerCenter has good user feedback. The developers can easily make mappings in the solution."
"Technical support, and their approach is good. They have a support portal and support tickets. If you open a ticket it has multiple levels of severity from level one to very high or critical."
"It is easy to use, and it is quick for developing things. It is fairly powerful, and it can integrate with a lot of different platforms without much hassle."
"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."
"One of the most valuable features for us is the metadata repository because it can easily understand the lineage of first target mapping. My company and I also find Informatica really easy to use—when a consultant joins our company, in just a few days to a few weeks, they can understand how to use it—so we prefer to use this ETL tool."
"The most valuable aspects of Informatica PowerCenter are the many features, ease of use, and user-friendliness."
 

Cons

"Data Factory could be improved in terms of data transformations by adding more metadata extractions."
"Currently, smaller businesses face a disadvantage in terms of pricing, and reducing costs could address this issue."
"Sometimes I need to do some coding, and I'd like to avoid that. I'd like no-code integrations."
"If the user interface was more user friendly and there was better error feedback, it would be helpful."
"A room for improvement in Azure Data Factory is its speed. Parallelization also needs improvement."
"The solution needs to be more connectable to its own services."
"The need to work more on developing out-of-the-box connectors for other products like Oracle, AWS, and others."
"This solution is currently only useful for basic data movement and file extractions, which we would like to see developed to handle more complex data transformations."
"We had to take on a large volume of data from the legacy Sybase system. This was taking a very long time, i.e., more than a day. We were trying to improve it with partitions to gpload, but we were told that we can't go more than four partitions."
"PowerCenter could be improved by having more big data components. Normally, we prefer Informatica as a relational database, but nowadays, companies are trying to understand and use big data components. I think it would be useful if we had more chances to create a hub ecosystem because customers try to use some data integration tasks by SQL, Spark and Spark codes, and Scala, but at the end of the day, the company will understand that we need to trace all the steps. An ETL tool is a must for that company, if we're talking about the regulated industries like finance, telcos, etc. If Informatica's biggest ecosystems feature were okay, I would prefer to use it."
"The solution does not scale."
"The solution must improve the integration with new services."
"What I didn't like about it is that the platform itself is not great at distributed processing. When you need high parallel processing, it has some inherent issues. We had to use Java transformation, and it did not go very well. I have heard that it is going to the cloud, but we haven't tried that."
"We need another tool for monitoring. It would be easier if all the features were consolidated into one tool."
"While Informatica is great for data-integration, it does not have any analytics features. Thus, organizations have to always look for another product for their BI needs."
"The performance of Informatica PowerCenter could improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure products generally offer competitive pricing, suitable for diverse budget considerations."
"The pricing is pay-as-you-go or reserve instance. Of the two options, reserve instance is much cheaper."
"Pricing appears to be reasonable in my opinion."
"The licensing cost is included in the Synapse."
"Azure Data Factory gives better value for the price than other solutions such as Informatica."
"It seems very low initially, but as the data grows, the solution’s bills grow exponentially."
"The cost is based on the amount of data sets that we are ingesting."
"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."
"Compared to other tools, I think PowerCenter is a bit expensive. When I compare it to Oracle, if you want to use Oracle databases, you can easily get an ODI tool, so it's easier to handle. Informatica is a standalone tool—it's an independent company—and there are no databases around them, so it's quite expensive to use. Generally, large companies use PowerCenter because of the price. If companies want to expand their usage areas, they try to consider if it's easy to implement and easy to understand the pricing. I think the pricing is a barrier for Informatica."
"The license model is CPU based."
"Price-wise, it's more expensive than SSIS, but it's a better tool, so it has more features. Licensing is on a yearly basis."
"I am not sure about the most recent price, but I think it should be $100,000 or more."
"It is for big enterprises. We have leveraged Informatica for big enterprises but not for small and medium enterprises because it is a very costly product as compared to other products. We propose this solution only for enterprise customers. For small to medium enterprises, we would propose the Microsoft solution. Its licensing is currently bundle-wise. It should be features-wise and not bundle-wise."
"Our customers pay a licensing fee yearly."
"The price of this solution is high."
"Pricing for Informatica PowerCenter isn't cheap, but if I compare it with IBM, it's as expensive as IBM, however, Informatica PowerCenter is more innovative, especially when compared to a giant company such as IBM that has thousands of products. Informatica PowerCenter is limited only to data management, but it has new features that come out every quarter. Points for ease of use and flexibility go to Informatica PowerCenter, but price-wise, IBM and Informatica are equal because they're both expensive."
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Comparison Review

it_user90069 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 20, 2014
Informatica PowerCenter vs. Microsoft SSIS - each technology has its advantages but also have similarities
Technology has made it easier for businesses to organize and manipulate data to get a clearer picture of what’s going on with their business. Notably, ETL tools have made managing huge amounts of data significantly easier and faster, boosting many organizations’ business intelligence operations…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
 

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 is better - SSIS or Informatica PowerCenter?
SSIS PowerPack is a group of drag and drop connectors for Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, commonly called SSIS. The collection helps organizations boost productivity with code-free compo...
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...
How do you evaluate the pricing model of Informatica PowerCenter?
The pricing model of Informatica PowerCenter is suitable for big companies and enterprises. This is an amazing product, and it certainly does its job, however, if you are a medium or small business...
 

Also Known As

No data available
PowerCenter
 

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
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Data Factory vs. Informatica PowerCenter and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.