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Microsoft MDS vs ON EBX comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 5, 2026

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

Microsoft MDS
Ranking in Master Data Management (MDM) Software
3rd
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ON EBX
Ranking in Master Data Management (MDM) Software
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Master Data Management (MDM) Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft MDS is 9.9%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ON EBX is 9.6%, down from 11.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ON EBX9.6%
Microsoft MDS9.9%
Other80.5%
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
 

Featured Reviews

NA
Data Management Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Centralized master data has improved data quality but now requires a clearer future roadmap
An area where Microsoft MDS can be improved is that Microsoft has announced Microsoft MDS is being removed from SQL Server two thousand twenty-five. The future of the product is genuinely uncertain, and that's something any organization evaluating it needs to factor in seriously. Microsoft MDS is still supported on SQL Server two thousand twenty-two and earlier, but the trajectory is clear that Microsoft is not investing in Microsoft MDS going forward. I would also say that the cloud story is a gap because there's no native cloud version of Microsoft MDS. For clients who are moving workloads to Azure, that's an increasingly awkward conversation. Microsoft's direction for MDM in the cloud is through other capabilities like Azure Purview and Dataverse, but those are different products with different feature sets.
reviewer2731320 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Improved workflow collaboration and data flexibility enhance team efficiency, but performance and logout issues require attention
Regarding improvements or enhancements in TIBCO EBX, when it comes to 5.8 to 5.9, there was a really good feature added, which is the hyperlink. When you click on a table, you navigate to deeper tables. If there is a table with ten fields, those ten fields are taken from a second table and interrelated to a third table, you can keep clicking on each field and go deeper and deeper. To come each level above, there is a hyperlink created on the top. You just need to click on the hyperlink and keep navigating back, similar to certain websites. However, there were some drawbacks I noticed with the latest version 6, particularly in terms of performance, where in a few cases, the performance was impacted, necessitating work to get things sorted. Additionally, the logout from the application happened randomly or sometimes it wasn't logging out, which is a compliance issue since users expect to log out after a certain time. Version 6 introduced a strong filtration logic. All EBX versions have a separate section for filters that offer text search and advanced search options. In EBX 6, they enhanced the search feature deeply, including conjunctions and, or, else, allowing you to create your own logic for how you need the filter to work. They also introduced a top-level search feature, where you enter some text, and it searches the entire table. With the latest update of TIBCO EBX, there are a few issues with the workflow that need improvement. When going through a workflow, there are functionalities to upload files, and sometimes you need to attach files for evidence. That section of EBX had certain issues. We dropped the plan to switch to EBX 6 due to other technical limitations on our side. Those were a few pending items we had raised to them, and they were working on resolving them. From a usage point of view, those were the main concerns, but they introduced a good idea about the side panel. The pagination concept was introduced to navigate among different domains, and in the left panel, you have search capabilities and pagination functionality.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It gives you the flexibility to have in-depth experience; it allows you to collect data and save it as a golden record, and you have the flexibility for data stewardship."
"The most valuable feature is the administration console."
"The zero incremental license cost plus the operational improvements from having clean, consistent master data, reduced errors, faster reporting, and cleaner compliance provide a solid ROI."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"One of the main features I have found useful is the integration with Azure active directory."
"Compared to other databases, it is easier to manage and administer."
"It has been a long-standing tool in our organization since it was free."
"This product provides a robust, flexible, and secure way for my organization and our customers to manage master data without the need to write code."
"The most valuable features of TIBCO EBX are that is a complete tool and everything can be done inside, including data governance. We are able to model everything according to the needs of the company. If the company needs five people to agree to a change in data, they can do it with TIBCO EBX. They can model it with any particular rules. Additionally, there is dynamic data modeling, simple workflows using the GUI that comes from the server."
"Now EBX does everything for me."
"The benefits I have seen from using TIBCO EBX are quite significant."
"The features of TIBCO EBX are highly customizable, which is something I appreciated; we can customize every part of it, set where the labels appear, how they appear, and their order, and have all of these capabilities readily available."
"The customizable data model feature of TIBCO EBX has helped in addressing the complex data requirements of our organization, as its customizability is not only limited to the UI functionality, but also provides extended functionality to use external APIs within the code on the data model level and workflow model level."
"It is a very stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"The API and the data model are very valuable features."
"The most valuable features of TIBCO EBX are the workflow and interface."
 

Cons

"The business rules definition interface could be improved."
"Most of the Microsoft partners, especially digitally, are separate. Personnel are business people, and they do not have technical expertise, so you end up as a company spending a lot of money training your staff and your engineers."
"From what we have seen, speaking to customers, Microsoft MDS was sometimes a bit slow."
"If one system has reached capacity or has stopped, then the whole system stops and it is quite difficult to solve the problem."
"From my understanding, MS, as of 2021, will not maintain the product going forward."
"If Microsoft MDS were part of Azure, it would be significantly more helpful."
"The only drawback is that it does not have the matching, merging, and all true MDM components. For these, you have to use another competent called Data Quality Services (DQS). You need to plug it in and use it along with MDS for true MDM. Both of these are integrated together, but you have to do them separately, whereas, in Profisee, there are a couple of screens where you can configure the matching process, create matching rules, and other things, and everything is in one product, which is not the case with MDS. In order to implement a true MDM, you need MDS, DQS, and SSIS. You have to use MDS to store your golden records, DQS to configure and standardize all your rules and matching percentages, and SSIS to load the data to DQS and MDS. At the same time, you also need Melissa Data to clean up your addresses to validate and standardize the addresses. That's the main component of true MDM. It would be good if they can create a true matching component inside MDS and merge MDS and DQS."
"The future of the product is genuinely uncertain, and that's something any organization evaluating it needs to factor in seriously."
"Sometimes it is a little difficult to find an architect for certain developments. You kind of have to be like technicians to work with this product if you want to make some specific development."
"The support isn't great and takes too long. And the pricing can be improved."
"TIBCO EBX has the functionality of highly customizable models, but making changes requires going to the backend, implementing changes, and then restarting the server to affect those changes on the UI side."
"With the latest update of TIBCO EBX, there are a few issues with the workflow that need improvement. When going through a workflow, there are functionalities to upload files, and sometimes you need to attach files for evidence. That section of EBX had certain issues."
"It's a pretty steep learning curve, I find, and not really fluid and flexible."
"Some optimization on the database and how it is handled would be beneficial."
"The tool has to improve mapping and workflow. It should be made more robust."
"The design should be easier and more visual."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
"TIBCO EBX is a very expensive solution. There is an annual fee to use the solution."
"This solution is costly compared to other products on the market, but this is due to the complete functionality that is provided. The pricing model is very straightforward, and is worked out on a pay-per- instance basis, and only applies to active instances."
"I'm just involved in technical, but I understand that its pricing is similar to HP so it is quite expensive."
"TIBCO EBX is cheaper than Informatica."
"The price of TIBCO EBX is too high. The solution can only be used in a project that has good sponsorship that can afford it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft MDS?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing shows that the licensing is one of Microsoft MDS's genuine advantages, as it's included in SQL Server Enterprise Edition at no addition...
What needs improvement with Microsoft MDS?
An area where Microsoft MDS can be improved is that Microsoft has announced Microsoft MDS is being removed from SQL Server two thousand twenty-five. The future of the product is genuinely uncertain...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft MDS?
My main use case for Microsoft MDS is as a central master data repository for clients running SQL Server-based data environments. The typical scenario is a mid-sized organization that has product d...
What needs improvement with Orchestra Networks EBX?
The support portal needs improvement. Tickets are handled by junior engineers who struggle to solve issues in a timely manner. Frequent updates to the software are necessary, yet a number of featur...
What is your primary use case for Orchestra Networks EBX?
TIBCO EBX was used by one of our clients to manage financial data. It is primarily utilized by the operational and admin teams to keep the application running 24/7. We have integrated it with SAP s...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Master Data Services, Microsoft MDM, Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services, MS MDS
TIBCO EBX, TIBCO MDM, Orchestra Networks EBX
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ETA a.s., Apeejay Surrendra Group, Blue Star Infotech, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation, The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, New Belgium Brewing
BNL, SunGard, TUI Group, Uti Worldwide, Yellow Pages Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft MDS vs. ON EBX and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,749 professionals have used our research since 2012.