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Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Informatica PowerCenter 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

Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Data Integration
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
182
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (6th), 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)
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 February 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is 5.0%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica PowerCenter is 10.3%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
Feb 13, 2022
 

Featured Reviews

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.
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 product seems stable enough."
"I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
"It is quite easy to use and flexible."
"The scalability is very high."
"It is a highly scalable solution."
"The most valuable features are the structure masking and platform masking."
"It is a very stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"It's a stable product without any bugs or glitches."
"Reusable definition of data sources and the out-of-the-box availability of a large number maplets for common transformation functions."
"It provides monitoring and we can therefore be aware of what is happening when we are handling jobs."
"If the systems get migrated or upgraded, the amount of resources required are very minimal. We can change the connections and establish a new connection. It's very helpful."
"Once you have learned Informatica, it is very easy to use."
"It is UI friendly and has all the advantages of an ETL tool."
"The performance and design of Informatica have been very valuable. I find the performance faster than, say, Oracle Data Integrator or DataStage."
"Informatica PowerCenter is very good for integrating a huge amount of data in a very short duration, such as a minute. It is also very easy to use. After you provide the source and the target, mappings are automatically done, which makes it easy to use for the development team."
"We have found the PowerCenter and B2B data transformation most valuable."
 

Cons

"It is complicated to establish the lineage in EDC using PowerCenter mappings."
"Informatica MDM could improve the interdependency with integration. The solution sometimes becomes a bit difficult to change considering a lot of interdependency with the integration. There can be some improvement in the workflows and they can introduce more artificial intelligence."
"The solution still is a bit manual in its functionality. We want t to be more automation-driven."
"The biggest challenge I see is the IDE's for the cloud and automization are different."
"I feel the out-of-the-box APIs or the API management could be improved slightly from their current state. It could be more user-friendly."
"The pricing model is problematic."
"The integration with other data management tools can be enhanced. For instance, there is no integration with tools like Collibra or Hubview."
"New machine learning could be added to Informatica MDM because the solution is outdated and is not moving with the current trends. The solution is good, but it definitely needs a lot of improvement and needs to speed up as per the market."
"This solution needs the functionality to do batch processing of data. It also lacks connectivity to NoSQL, unstructured data sources."
"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."
"Integrated Reporting service should be more smoothly transitioned from view to function to be in sync with the main design."
"Informatica, in my opinion, is very rigid and not very flexible, whereas platforms like Alteryx or Matillion are very flexible and agile."
"The pricing could be improved."
"Requires an established data center because there is no option for software as a service."
"Informatica PowerCenter could improve by having a single interface because half of the system is still in the legacy interface and many other elements are moved to the developer client. It would be good if there was a single interface for the end user and developers."
"The documentation could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"It's offers value for money. They're more competitive with respect to pricing and offerings."
"The price of Informatica Cloud Data Integration could be reduced."
"It's pretty high for us. It's more on the higher side, like low to middle high."
"My understanding is that Informatica is quite expensive compare to other tools that are available in the market."
"Our customers sometimes are able to negotiate a much better price for Informatica Cloud Data Integration based on their relationship with the vendor."
"A yearly subscription is paid based on the number of people using the solution. Price-wise, it falls under the medium range since it is neither very costly nor too cheap."
"We saw an ROI. We have been able to get data from various sources and consolidate it into a data lake, which is helping us in data analytics."
"We are using an annual license for Informatica PowerCenter."
"The licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Licensing is a one time cost. But maintenance costs depend on what you want, how long you need it. Maintenance is a kind of insurance. With health insurance, you don't know whether you will get sick or need to go to hospital or not but you have to have insurance. It's the same thing with support. If you have that expertise in resolving issues, if you have enough experience in your IT department, I would say you don't need the support. But in practice, they recommend you go with the support. If you want support you have to pay for it."
"Since the solution's cost is higher, I rate the pricing as a five out of ten."
"The solution is in the middle price range compared to other solutions."
"It's much more expensive, almost three times more expensive than most other solutions."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten. The price is very high, and it doesn't understand the market now."
"The price is mostly reasonable."
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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…
 

Answers from the Community

NC
Feb 13, 2022
Feb 13, 2022
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 quantities of data with a high level of reliability. We also like the metadata repository and the data warehouse application console. We would like to see the licensing improved, though. We would lik...
2 out of 3 answers
RC
Oct 25, 2021
Cloud Data Integration
Nov 21, 2021
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 quantities of data with a high level of reliability. We also like the metadata repository and the data warehouse application console. We would like to see the licensing improved, though. We would like to see a feature-wise option as opposed to the current bundle option. PowerCenter is a very expensive solution. The numerous levels of transformation and multiple interfaces can make it a very confusing solution to learn. Cloud Data Integration offers great options for data cleansing, data mastering, data masking, master data management, and API management. The UI is very easy to use and the setup is straightforward. The new licensing is very flexible. Cloud Data Integration has inbuilt tools that allow for a lot of data transformation without changing any SQL queries from the code. This is one of our favorite features. We would point out, though, that there are some limitations with performance using Cloud Data Integration. We experienced some connectivity issues, making things run a bit slow. There are some issues with data residency laws in some countries. More regions should be added. Finally, it would behoove Cloud DataIntegration to consider adding more data sources. Conclusion: These are two great solutions under Informatica Brand which is synonymous with quality, reliability, and price. (Very high price.) Cloud Data is best suited for small to medium organizations and is somewhat limited in the regions it can be used. PowerCenter is most applicable for large enterprises that can more easily absorb the cost and best utilize everything PowerCenter has to offer with their current bundle licensing tier.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
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...
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...
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

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
PowerCenter
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Travel Company, Carbonite
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank
Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs. Informatica PowerCenter and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.