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Informatica PowerCenter vs Informatica PowerExchange comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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 PowerCenter
Ranking in Data Integration
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Data Visualization (9th)
Informatica PowerExchange
Ranking in Data Integration
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Informatica PowerCenter is 11.0%, up from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica PowerExchange is 1.2%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Mohammad Faizan Ahmad - PeerSpot reviewer
Helpful in handling areas like complex data sources and data processing but needs improved support services
The major challenge with the tool stems from the fact that if you are implementing it in the cloud, then it has to be within the framework. Another challenge is the large volume of data. Informatica PowerExchange is a product through which we enable connectivity, so it is not an application product or a stand-alone tool, but Informatica's core systems or IICS uses it to connect to multiple systems. The major challenge associated with the tool is on the infrastructure side. The tool's features could be something faster with more connectors. A number of connectors can help connect to a wide variety of applications. The tool should focus on reducing the resilient time, like, if any network disconnectivity happens, then auto-reconnection and the retry method should be more robust so that manual intervention is not required. We communicate with the tool's support team as we need to raise our issues with them. I have already worked with Informatica and have a total experience of around eight to nine years; the one problem with the tool is its support team since they take a lot of time to address a particular issue. If one time you schedule a call and explain the situation to them about the issue, the support team will raise tickets and take notes. They will ask you to share the logs or screenshots of the errors, and you will get no resolution. The support team will randomly give you some documents and expect you to go through them, and if you get back to them with questions, a new person will be allocated, and you will have to start explaining everything again. I would not say it is a pleasant experience.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The partitioning and optimization to help enhance our development is a very valuable aspect of Informatica PowerCenter."
"It is very comprehensive in terms of connector and transformation capabilities from both a source and target perspective."
"The most valuable feature of Informatica PowerCenter is data transformation and user-friendliness."
"Among all the solutions I have used, I found Informatica PowerCenter to be much more stable in terms of application."
"It has a Data Catalog that uses the Model repository."
"The performance and design of Informatica have been very valuable. I find the performance faster than, say, Oracle Data Integrator or DataStage."
"Ease and speed of building integrations, especially integrations between different applications, such as our Hospital Information System."
"The most valuable features are the metadata repository and the data warehouse application console."
"The solution can connect to different systems i.e. mainframe, IMS or AS/400 Legacy Systems."
"The transformation work called for Informatica PowerExchange. It was easy to work with this and very stable."
"The data transformation is the solution's most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature is connectivity to data sources."
"The product's initial setup phase was not complex. The tool is easy to install onto any of the servers, and you can integrate it."
"This product is easy to install and it can be done in a few hours."
"Overall, it's a good tool. It's currently number one on the market. It pretty much has all the necessary capabilities to pull the incremental data from the source system, technically speaking."
"The product’s flexibility is valuable."
 

Cons

"I would like to see improvements made to the custom transformations. It should be more open for users that want to write their own code and use cases."
"PowerCenter could integrate better with cloud applications. We had to do a lot of configuration work using API integrations to connect with cloud applications. Informatica Cloud Data Integration has a generic connector that you can use directly, so it's much easier."
"Now they are migrating to a new version, and they have something that is called Informatica Developer. Previously, they just had PowerCenter. Now, when they move everything to Informatica Developer it's not as good or stable like it was when it was PowerCenter, though it has some nice features. This Developer tool could be better."
"The licensing is difficult."
"The licensing cost for Informatica is very high. Other all-in-one solutions have much lower prices than Informatica."
"Integrated Reporting service should be more smoothly transitioned from view to function to be in sync with the main design."
"The UI is outdated and old-fashioned, at least in our current version. Also, we have experienced some stability issues with the Workflow Monitor application."
"The developer tool documentation can be enhanced with a more clear explanation of each utility, accompanied by relevant examples, so that developers are able to create programs with ease."
"The major challenge associated with the tool is on the infrastructure side."
"Informatica is very expensive in all aspects, so the pricing is something that could be improved."
"Technical support can be improved with respect to delays in ticket response time."
"They should make it quick and easy for use of citizen data integration or for people or integrators developing at the customer side. They could be development teams within the business team. For them, the product owners can consider making it a little bit more seamless and a little bit more democratized."
"I would like to have easier integration with cloud platforms."
"I would like the stability to improve."
"The solution could be made more user-friendly. The configurations are also quite difficult."
"Integration with the largest number of databases and other systems would be important."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing costs are excessive and pose an obstacle to someone who lacks familiarity with the solution and wishes to have a proper understanding of it."
"Since the solution's cost is higher, I rate the pricing as a five out of ten."
"The licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"I rate the product's price a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The license model is CPU based."
"It's much more expensive, almost three times more expensive than most other solutions."
"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."
"According to what I've heard and read on various blogs, it's quite expensive when compared to similar competitive products."
"Many users don't prefer to use the product, considering the high costs attached to the licensing part of the solution."
"There is a need to pay towards the licensing cost of the product. It is an expensive product."
"The product is not very expensive."
"An annual package license fee is required."
"It's expensive. In fact, nobody would buy any product of Informatica if the price was the only consideration. It costs money, and it doesn't come cheap, but it provides value for money in many ways."
"The cost of PowerExchange is reasonable. It does not rely on complicated formulas or unrealistic equations. The pricing model is straightforward. There is one component, and real-time integration is included. Some other solutions require purchasing additional modules or third-party plugins for this capability."
"There are licensing and connector costs. Basically, Informatica is pay-as-you-use."
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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
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
13%
Insurance Company
11%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Informatica PowerExchange?
There are licensing and connector costs. Basically, Informatica is pay-as-you-use. There is one product cost and then the additional number of connectors or applications to which you are connecting...
What needs improvement with Informatica PowerExchange?
The major challenge with the tool stems from the fact that if you are implementing it in the cloud, then it has to be within the framework. Another challenge is the large volume of data. Informatic...
 

Also Known As

PowerCenter
PowerExchange, Connectors
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank
ACH Food, BNSF Railway Company, Illinois State University
Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica PowerCenter vs. Informatica PowerExchange and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,563 professionals have used our research since 2012.