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Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics vs SSIS 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.9
Pentaho offers cost-effective integration, reducing ETL time, lowering expenses, and enhancing competitiveness with open-source flexibility and efficiency.
Sentiment score
7.3
SSIS provides cost-effective data management efficiency, delivering ROI without extra costs apart from the SQL Server license.
Using SSIS has proven cost-effective as there are no additional fees outside the SQL Server license, and it significantly enhances data management efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.2
Users rely on community support over customer service due to mixed experiences, despite responsive technical support and Hitachi's involvement.
Sentiment score
6.0
Many users prefer online resources over Microsoft's good but occasionally slow and expensive technical support for critical issues.
Communication with the vendor is challenging
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Pentaho excels in scalability and efficient data handling but faces challenges with exceptionally large data and complex growth scenarios.
Sentiment score
6.8
SSIS is moderately scalable, better for batch processing, with varied performance depending on infrastructure and implementation challenges.
Pentaho Data Integration handles larger datasets better.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Pentaho Data Integration offers reliability for small to midsize operations but may lag and freeze with complex uses.
Sentiment score
7.4
SSIS is a reliable, mature tool with minor performance concerns, praised for stability in diverse projects despite occasional issues.
It's pretty stable, however, it struggles when dealing with smaller amounts of data.
It processes large volumes of data quickly.
 

Room For Improvement

Pentaho needs improvements in big data performance, error handling, UI, scheduling, backward compatibility, cloud integration, and Python support.
SSIS requires enhancements in error logging, real-time processing, and scalability while depending on external tools increases costs.
Pentaho Data Integration is very friendly, it is not very useful when there isn't a lot of data to handle.
SSIS has a difficult learning curve when dealing with complex transformations.
 

Setup Cost

Pentaho offers a cost-effective solution with its free Community Edition and affordable subscription-based Enterprise Edition for varying needs.
SSIS is cost-effective for enterprises, bundled with SQL Server, but add-ons can increase costs; overall valued for integration.
Utilizing SSIS involves no extra charges beyond the SQL Server license.
 

Valuable Features

Pentaho provides an intuitive, open-source platform for efficient ETL development and data integration with minimal coding and broad compatibility.
SSIS offers user-friendly, cost-effective ETL solutions with C# scripting, cloud deployment, and extensive support, enhancing data integration and automation.
I find the drag and drop feature in Pentaho Data Integration very useful for integration.
One of the best aspects of SSIS is that it is built into Microsoft SQL Server, so there are no additional costs involved.
 

Categories and Ranking

Pentaho Data Integration an...
Ranking in Data Integration
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SSIS
Ranking in Data Integration
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics is 1.4%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SSIS is 8.0%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Q&A Highlights

RS
Sep 09, 2021
 

Featured Reviews

Ryan Ferdon - PeerSpot reviewer
Low-code makes development faster than with Python, but there were caching issues
If you're working with a larger data set, I'm not so sure it would be the best solution. The larger things got the slower it was. It was kind of buggy sometimes. And when we ran the flow, it didn't go from a perceived start to end, node by node. Everything kicked off at once. That meant there were times when it would get ahead of itself and a job would fail. That was not because the job was wrong, but because Pentaho decided to go at everything at once, and something would process before it was supposed to. There were nodes you could add to make sure that, before this node kicks off, all these others have processed, but it was a bit tedious. There were also caching issues, and we had to write code to clear the cache every time we opened the program, because the cache would fill up and it wouldn't run. I don't know how hard that would be for them to fix, or if it was fixed in version 10. Also, the UI is a bit outdated, but I'm more of a fan of function over how something looks. One other thing that would have helped with Pentaho was documentation and support on the internet: how to do things, how to set up. I think there are some sites on how to install it, and Pentaho does have a help repository, but it wasn't always the most useful.
Sakiru Dosumu - PeerSpot reviewer
Its ability to transform and transport data is extremely valuable
he ability of SSIS to transform and transport data is extremely valuable to me. It allows for intelligent extraction and manipulation of data during the process. Improved error handling would enhance ETL processes further. I haven't directly utilized the data flow components but they seem capable of supporting complex data integration needs.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Integration solutions are best for your needs.
839,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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

RS
Sep 9, 2021
Sep 9, 2021
There are two products I know about * TimeXtender : Microsoft based, Transformation logic is quiet good and can easily be extended with T-SQL , Has a semantic layer that generates metat data for cubes . price approx 40K$, works with tables . Attunity (Bought by Qlik) : technology agnostic , nice web interface , expensive > 100K€. Works with transaction logs There are many other pure ETL ...
2 out of 12 answers
SS
Apr 6, 2020
We usually use Talend. Look here: https://community.talend.com/t5/Design-and-Development/The-way-from-OLTP-to-OLAP/td-p/116719
RS
Apr 7, 2020
Thanks Stefan !!! May I know if Talend is opensource /free ? It is available in all 3 editions - basic , standard end enterprise? it is capable to read data from all heterogeneous system like various types of data bases and files etc..?
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which ETL tool would you recommend to populate data from OLTP to OLAP?
Hi Rajneesh, yes here is the feature comparison between the community and enterprise edition : https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/pdf/brochure/leverage-open-source-benefits-with-assurance-of-hita...
What do you think can be improved with Hitachi Lumada Data Integrations?
In my opinion, the reporting side of this tool needs serious improvements. In my previous company, we worked with Hitachi Lumada Data Integration and while it does a good job for what it’s worth, ...
What do you use Hitachi Lumada Data Integrations for most frequently?
My company has used this product to transform data from databases, CSV files, and flat files. It really does a good job. We were most satisfied with the results in terms of how many people could us...
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...
What do you like most about SSIS?
The product's deployment phase is easy.
 

Also Known As

Hitachi Lumada Data Integration, Kettle, Pentaho Data Integration
SQL Server Integration Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

66Controls, Providential Revenue Agency of Ro Negro, NOAA Information Systems, Swiss Real Estate Institute
1. Amazon.com 2. Bank of America 3. Capital One 4. Coca-Cola 5. Dell 6. E*TRADE 7. FedEx 8. Ford Motor Company 9. Google 10. Home Depot 11. IBM 12. Intel 13. JPMorgan Chase 14. Kraft Foods 15. Lockheed Martin 16. McDonald's 17. Microsoft 18. Morgan Stanley 19. Nike 20. Oracle 21. PepsiCo 22. Procter & Gamble 23. Prudential Financial 24. RBC Capital Markets 25. SAP 26. Siemens 27. Sony 28. Toyota 29. UnitedHealth Group 30. Visa 31. Walmart 32. Wells Fargo
Find out what your peers are saying about Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics vs. SSIS and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
839,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.