Microsoft MDS helps to record and save data to tables.
Senior quality analyst at Lalli
An easy-to-install solution that helps to record and save data to the tables
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to install."
- "Microsoft MDS' language should be simple so everyone can use it easily."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to install.
What needs improvement?
Microsoft MDS' language should be simple so everyone can use it easily.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for five years.
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Microsoft MDS
November 2024
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft MDS is a scalable tool. My company has more than 200 users for the product.
How was the initial setup?
The tool's deployment is straightforward and takes only half an hour to complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the product an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Global Data Architecture and Data Science Director at FH
Flexible, stable, scalable, includes an Excel API add-in, and the support is good
Pros and Cons
- "It's very easy to use."
- "It would be a better option to have an on-cloud version."
What is our primary use case?
It can be used for all the data cataloging, master data management, manufacturing, product management, data harmonization, data stewardship, for any kind of master data, and product catalog.
What is most valuable?
It gives you the flexibility to have in-depth experience. It allows you to collect data and save it as a golden record. You have the flexibility for data stewardship.
They also have an Excel API where you can do everything from Excel. You can make changes with the connectivity on the Excel API.
It's very easy to use.
What needs improvement?
The version that I work with is on-premises and it required an additional virtual machine on the cloud. It would be a better option to have an on-cloud version.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for three years.
We are using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's very stable. Stability is one of the best features.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's scalable. It's based on Microsoft SQL Server.
They are using this solution at an enterprise level for our customer who is an implementer. They are going to produce data and scale it.
How are customer service and technical support?
We contacted technical support with an issue that we were having and they were able to solve it. It was a learning phase but Microsoft provided support.
Microsoft support is good. They are customer-friendly and they are knowledgeable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are using SAP for the master data.
SAP is more expensive than Microsoft. It's costly.
SAP is a very good ESP tool that can also be used for master data services.
It's very stable.
How was the initial setup?
I was not a part of the installation. I have not done it, but it should be simple.
It's similar to any SQL server installation.
Implementing with the cloud was a little bit complex.
There was an issue with the production version.
What other advice do I have?
In my current organization, I'm recommending reviewing all of the product cataloging master data management. This is what I would recommend for anybody who wants to do master data management, they use this product.
I would rate Microsoft MDS an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft MDS
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft MDS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior system engineer for Microsoft, network and ICT systems at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Beneficial management and scales easily
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its management."
- "The stability could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
I'm using Microsoft MDS for configuring the storage for backups on the DPM server, and data protection manager.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its management.
What needs improvement?
The stability could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft MDS for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft MDS is stable.
I rate the stability of Microsoft MDS a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Microsoft MDS is good.
We have three administrators using this solution in my company.
It has some disadvantages, in the data protection manager, but this is specifically for our environment. In general, it scales well.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted technical support because of our specific environment. It was not the fault of the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Microsoft MDS is simple. After thoroughly planning and gathering all necessary information and instructions, the implementation took one day.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Microsoft MDS a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Data Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
Excellent dynamic data masking, but needs to integrate better with Microsoft's other products
Pros and Cons
- "Technical support is very good."
- "The solution could be better integrated into Microsoft's other products."
How has it helped my organization?
We have been able to have one true copy of data with Master Data Services. It's improved our organization by removing redundancies. It has reduced the duplication across a number of different databases.
What is most valuable?
The dynamic data masking, the row-level security, and the data quality business rules are the most valuable features of the solution.
What needs improvement?
The solution could be better integrated into Microsoft's other products.
One of the key features that it doesn't have is a data modeling feature. Everyone uses Microsoft, but not for modeling. They use IBM, SAP PowerDesigner, etc. It would be really good to combine this solution with a modeler. For me, that's what is missing.
In a future release, I would like to see a better link to SSIS, Microsoft's business intelligence product. I would also like to see improvements in the user interface.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I believe the solution is easiest to scale when housed by Azure. In previous installations, we housed 20-50 people, max.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Every installation that I previously worked on had some form of Microsoft MDS.
How was the initial setup?
I didn't handle the initial setup; it's dealt with by a different team. I believe it's very straightforward in terms of an installer having a model object package which contains all of the entities, attributes, groups, hierarchies, business rules, etc. And this is deployed as a package via an XML file. That's the standard way of doing it.
What other advice do I have?
We use the private cloud version of the solution.
The beauty with Master Data Services is that it's centralized in one place and the problem with other solutions is that most of them have been created in house. There is an overlap between them.
The big advantage of this solution is with regards to a data warehouse. What you can do is cleanse the data and make it consistent throughout the warehouse before it gets into it, so it guarantees consistency.
I'd recommend Microsoft MDS. It's the best MDM tool out there.
I would rate the solution seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Lead Developer at HaynesPro
Good backup and restore functionality but does not have great scalability
Pros and Cons
- "The backup and restore functionality are the solution's most valuable aspects."
- "The Microsoft license cost could be lower."
What is our primary use case?
We use it in our company.
We use the product for data migration, production, and development. We deliver data sources to our customers using MDS. We are a data company.
What is most valuable?
The backup and restore functionality are the solution's most valuable aspects.
What needs improvement?
The Microsoft license cost could be lower.
We are a data company. We have loads of data and we are finding that, while it's working fine, if you're looking for reporting of big data, it has its limits.
We'd like to have a NoSQL solution in Microsoft MDS.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used this solution for many years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable enough. That's not a problem. It's reliable. There are no bugs or glitches.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is not very scalable. It's limited in terms of what you can do.
We have ten people working with it in our company.
How are customer service and support?
I don't use technical support via Microsoft that often. We are developers so we can figure things out ourselves as well.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've worked with Oracle, Redshift from AWS, and Postgres, among others. I used many things, however, that was for my former companies.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is a bit expensive. We pay for it on a yearly basis.
I'm not sure of the exact costs as I don't handle the payment processes.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are looking around to see what we could do with different solutions, such as QuickSight and Babelfish.
Redshift, for example, is NoSQL, so that can actually be very powerful with big data. That's the type of solution we are looking for.
What other advice do I have?
We're a customer and end-user.
We have the solution deployed on-premises and on Amazon Cloud.
It's Microsoft, so it's not always perfect, however, is a good step to start with. It's easy to start with MDS. You just have to be aware that you will have some issues.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Individual Contributor at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Integrates well, scalable, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "One of the main features I have found useful is the integration with Azure active directory."
- "I do not like using Silverlight and Internet Explorer. The new 2019 version gets rid of that, which is one of the reasons why we are looking to switch."
What is most valuable?
One of the main features I have found useful is the integration with Azure active directory.
What needs improvement?
I would like to separate the website from the database side. By default, you have the webserver running on the same server as it is the database. This forces us to make a bigger VM which means more costing for the VM. We tried to go with a less expensive route and every now and then we run out of memory, you have to reboot the machine. It is okay in DEV and QA, but ideally, we should not have this happening.
I do not like using Silverlight and Internet Explorer. The new 2019 version gets rid of that, which is one of the reasons why we are looking to switch.
Additionally, the overall performance could improve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution will work fine stability wise if you have the VM sized appropriately.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
If you have the environment then the solution can be scaled.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not needed to call technical support but I almost did when I was trying to do a SQL server restore of a production database and converting it into a DEV and QA environment.
How was the initial setup?
I set it up on my own laptop and I did not think it was that difficult. The challenging part is making sure you are matched up with the right version and patch level of SQL Server and IE.
What about the implementation team?
I did the implementation myself and it took me two days because we had multiple versions of the documentation. They were all dated in their own unique ways and because of this, I created a new version of them all, that worked for me. We have three technicians that support the solution in my organization.
What was our ROI?
I believe my organization has had a return on investment using this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Microsoft MDS a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Tech lead at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Powerful with great customization; can sometimes be slow with synchronization issues
Pros and Cons
- "Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system."
- "There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS."
What is our primary use case?
I'm a distributor and developer of Microsoft MDS.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the solution is Excel because it enables even non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system which is important because most of our people are not from the IT sector. The second important feature is that while we are using Informatica and other SAP tools which are less customizable, MDS increases customization for us and that is very useful. MDS, SQL and SSIS make the solution much more powerful. The main reason we use this solution is because of its customization.
What needs improvement?
I have faced data primary violation in MDS when the primary key was full and that is not good. There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS. When I use the SIS package for batch activity and it's full, I have to delete the batch manually by going into the database. The solution can sometimes be slow. We are in a healthcare environment and I've faced some synchronizing issues with the test model. I've faced some issues as a consultant of this solution because of the above. It can be slow sometimes.
I rate the solution six out of 10.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There can be some issues with stability depending on how you use the solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We can directly scale everything by coding and we can customize everything.
How was the initial setup?
It's important to remember that when you're installing the SQL Server, you have to select MDS. Once that's done MDS has to be enabled and the MDS database has to be created. For that purpose, you have to open MDS configuration and create the MDS database. Finally you have to build a few services of Microsoft Windows - Windows 10, Windows Server or something else - to enable multiple services and open multiple ports to enable DevOps MDS service. You then need a Microsoft Silverlight for MDS use. Finally, the MDS developer must have the admin rights of the system as well as the database.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
MDS alone is a free product, but it comes with the complete package of Microsoft SQL Server. So while you are purchasing SQL Server Pro version or licensed version of SQL Server you also get SSIS, MDS and DQS.
What other advice do I have?
The advantage of Microsoft MDS is that it's so handy, so customizable, and easy to use. It has all the basics and given that we are a directly integral system, everyone is able to use Excel. The advantage is that you can be working on bulk data and creating a batch, we can upload or deliver activities. If one system has reached capacity or has stopped, then the whole system stops and it is quite difficult to solve the problem. My advice is that if you want to use custom UI, then make sure you work on Internet Explorer. Without it you can't use a structured MDS UI. In place of Internet Explorer create your own custom UI by the .NET feature.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
senior consultant at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
The safety is good and it's pretty easy to generate queries
Pros and Cons
- "More generic related things can be included in the services."
- "More generic related things can be included in the services."
What is most valuable?
The safety is good, and it's pretty easy to generate queries. Also, the GUI is friendly, with new features, like stored procedures. It is really easy to create a Microsoft service.
What needs improvement?
More generic related things can be included in the services.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft MDS for three to four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Ten people are using this solution daily in our project.
I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy because there is another procurement team in order to get it installed on our machines. In large organizations, everything is separated. There is a team for everything. We request a service, there is a procurement team which will analyze and install it on our servers.
What other advice do I have?
The data modeling capabilities are sufficient. We utilize it sparingly, primarily for generating a few schemas. Additionally, these schemas have remained unchanged.
I recommend the solution because GUI is good. it is very user-friendly. It doesn't require much knowledge to use the service directly, making it a pretty easy-to-use solution.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: May 15, 2024
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