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IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 11, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
IBM Cloud Pak for Data helps large enterprises improve data quality, boosting AI processes and enhancing decision-making productivity.
Sentiment score
7.1
Informatica's cloud platform enhances data management efficiency, cost savings, and data security, requiring effective change management for optimal results.
I have seen a return on investment, as one of the returns on ROI is better performance in analysis and data collection from multiple sources, which has enabled us to gain insights to make data-driven decisions.
Operations Manager at IQVIA
Leadership prefers to utilize third-party tools, such as Snowflake, which has both storage and ELT features.
Sr. Consultant cum Assistant Manager & Offshore Lead at Deloitte
The stability and performance remain issues.
consultant at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Compared to Collibra Catalog, where the value is noticeable within six months.
Data and Analytics Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
IBM Cloud Pak for Data's support is responsive and available 24/7, despite some delays due to system complexity.
Sentiment score
6.9
Informatica's customer service is generally rated positively for quick, knowledgeable support, though some report occasional delays and inconsistencies.
Cloud Pak is a complicated system, and it's often difficult to find the right resource in IBM to help with specific issues.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
They are available 24/7 and reachable via email, chat, or live chat or through the phone.
Operations Manager at IQVIA
I would rate IBM's support at about a seven or eight out of ten because we have good support coverage owing to our long association with IBM.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Due to the tool's maturity limitations, solutions are not always simple and often require workarounds.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
Even after going out of service support, they still reached back to me whenever I raised tickets.
IT Manager - Data Quality and Migration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
We expect more responsive assistance because they have the expertise since Informatica is their tool, but I don't see enough expertise on the Informatica support side.
Sr. Consultant cum Assistant Manager & Offshore Lead at Deloitte
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is praised for impressive scalability and compatibility, despite being resource-intensive, with ratings mostly 8-10.
Sentiment score
7.3
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud is praised for scalability and flexibility in handling large datasets, despite pricing concerns.
The scalability of IBM Cloud Pak for Data is impressive, as it grows with my organization's needs.
Operations Manager at IQVIA
I have used the product over multiple systems and was able to write reports for large data sets without any performance issues.
IT Manager - Data Quality and Migration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
As a SaaS platform, IDMC is quite scalable and provides complete flexibility.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
There are many options available, and the licensing model is quite good, supporting our needs effectively.
Data Integration Architect at Endeavour Foundation
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is generally stable and well-rated, with users emphasizing scalability despite minor tool integration concerns.
Sentiment score
7.7
Users generally find IDMC stable, with occasional challenges after updates, especially in older versions or specific integrations.
Stability is crucial because IDMC holds business-critical data, and it needs to be available all the time for business users.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
There are substantial stability issues with Informatica Cloud Data Quality on the cloud.
consultant at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I find the stability to be good, with occasional restarts required every two to three months due to glitches.
IT Manager - Data Quality and Migration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Cloud Pak for Data needs better integration, support, features, and pricing to attract small businesses and simplify adoption.
Informatica IDMC needs UI improvements, better connectivity, streamlined configuration, cheaper pricing, and enhanced support with AI integration.
I would love Cloud Pak to come with a demo database that illustrates the different components of data management in a logical way, so I can see the whole picture instead of just the area I'm specializing in.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Pricing is something that could be reduced, especially for small business enterprises to afford IBM Cloud Pak for Data.
Operations Manager at IQVIA
I do not know if Cognos has all the features that users are looking for since we provide it as our standard and do not maintain infrastructure for other tools.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The tool needs to mature in terms of category-specific attributes or dynamic attributes.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
The current solution requires code-writing and tweaking, while other solutions offer material-level matches.
IT Manager - Data Quality and Migration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
If the development interface could be optimized to have fewer modules, it would be greatly beneficial.
Data Integration Architect at Endeavour Foundation
 

Setup Cost

IBM Cloud Pak for Data's high pricing and complexity make it more suitable for large enterprises than smaller companies.
Informatica IDMC provides a robust but expensive pricing model with complex licensing and potential negotiation discounts for enterprises.
The setup cost is very expensive.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The amount of data compared to the price is reasonable, and the setup was quite straightforward.
Operations Manager at IQVIA
It ranges from a quarter million to a couple of million a year.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services is affordable for my specific use cases, with the pricing being rated three or four on a scale where one is very cheap.
Data Integration Architect at Endeavour Foundation
Regarding pricing, compared to other tools I have worked with, Informatica offers competitive pricing, which I find not high in terms of starting strategy.
Sr. Consultant cum Assistant Manager & Offshore Lead at Deloitte
 

Valuable Features

IBM Cloud Pak for Data excels with data virtualization, low-code navigation, robust security, and efficient data integration and collaboration.
Informatica IDMC offers seamless data integration, AI-enhanced features, and efficient governance, enhancing user experience and operational efficiency.
From there, I can work my way into a more granular level, applying all of that information on top of my actual data to understand what my data looks like, where it came from, and where it went wrong, managing it throughout the cycle.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The benefits of choosing IBM Cognos, in addition to saving on cost, include having institutional knowledge about maintaining this infrastructure and enough people who have developed on Cognos in the past, which creates comfort in its use.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is an all-in-one cloud-native data and AI platform that centralizes everything to one single platform, making it easy for viewing our data.
Operations Manager at IQVIA
The platform's ability to pull in data from other platforms without the need for an additional integration tool enhances its appeal.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
The connectors serve as the main functionality, making data integration processes more efficient by saving time and effort.
Data Integration Architect at Endeavour Foundation
We could run data quality rules as part of Service Bus, which ensured the integrity of customer information before it was entered into our database.
Data and Analytics Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cloud Pak for Data
Ranking in Data Integration
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (3rd)
Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Data Integration
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
214
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (7th), Business-to-Business Middleware (3rd), API Management (6th), Cloud Data Integration (3rd), Data Governance (3rd), Test Data Management (3rd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (2nd), Data Masking (1st), Metadata Management (1st), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (3rd), Test Data Management Services (3rd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (1st), AI Data Analysis (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Data is 1.3%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is 3.7%, down from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC)3.7%
IBM Cloud Pak for Data1.3%
Other95.0%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

DJ
Operations Manager at IQVIA
Centralized data analysis has improved collaboration and delivers faster data driven decisions
The best features IBM Cloud Pak for Data offers include low-code or no-code options, which can be used by any technical expertise level. The user interface is very intuitive and easy to customize and navigate for any user, making the learning curve smooth. IBM Cloud Pak for Data is an all-in-one cloud-native data and AI platform that centralizes everything to one single platform, making it easy for viewing our data. It connected with our product for integration with the cloud and helped us enable all of our data users to collaborate from a single unified interface that supports many services designed to work together. I appreciate the low-code no-code feature for its visualization and reporting capabilities, which are very helpful in analyzing insights and making data-driven decisions. IBM Cloud Pak for Data has positively impacted my organization by saving a lot of time by predicting outcomes faster using a platform built with data fabric architecture. It has also enabled us to easily collect, organize, and analyze data, no matter where it is, thereby gaining insights we use to make data-driven decisions easily. It eliminates manual cataloging, which saves time and cost. When comparing it with our previous solution, we have been able to save approximately 70% of our time monthly. We have also been able to make data-driven and concrete decisions more easily compared to our previous solution. Our security has also been strengthened because IBM Cloud Pak for Data provides robust security features that protect our data.
Divya-Raj - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Consultant cum Assistant Manager & Offshore Lead at Deloitte
Handles large data volumes effectively and offers competitive pricing
There is a lot of improvement required, as we still face some cache issues most of the time, which is a challenge that we expect to see resolved in the future. Additionally, there is some limitation when we are working with a tool, especially regarding In and Out parameters, and I feel that this aspect should be improved going ahead. We face issues with the API side, as Cloud Application Integration cannot handle large volumes; according to the API page, there is a limitation of 500 records or 500 MB. The AI integrated into the Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services solution is called Application Integration, where we still face challenges when dealing with huge volumes, as previously explained.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
4%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business51
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise153
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
The pricing and setup cost are handled by a different procurement team. Our IT procurement team is centralized, so licensing and the actual cost of the software are taken care of by a different tea...
What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
I do not know if Cognos has all the features that users are looking for since we provide it as our standard and do not maintain infrastructure for other tools.
What is your primary use case for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
The main use case for IBM Cognos is for business intelligence and reporting.
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 ...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Pak for Data
ActiveVOS, Active Endpoints, Address Verification, Persistent Data Masking
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Qatar Development Bank, GuideWell, Skanderborg Music Festival
The Travel Company, Carbonite
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs. Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,954 professionals have used our research since 2012.