SSIS Reviews

We primarily use the solution for data transformation.

The most valuable features for our company are the flexibility and the quick turn around time in producing simple ETL solutions. Also, the use of the configuration on Azure. Our clients are basically secret sever based, so it works well there.

In terms of improvements to the solution, I don't think I have that expertise on it to recommend product enhancements right now. I've only used a few parts of it. Based on what I've used so far, I am happy with it.

I come from a coding background and this tool is graphically based. Sometimes I think it's cumbersome to do mapping graphically. If there was a way to provide a simple script, it would be helpful and make it easier to use.

The solution is currently running in production. It's stable.

We've never had to contact technical support. We generally handle any issues ourselves.

The initial setup is straightforward. Deployment is done by another team. I download the package and deliver it to them and they deploy it onto the cloud. In terms of maintenance, we only need one person.

We are using the 2014 Public Cloud version of the solution, under Microsoft Azure.

In terms of recommending the solution, it obviously depends on the level users you have. If you mainly have a simple graphical based user then maybe you could go for SSIS. If you want to take control of the whole ETL process, you should look for another tool. I use Informatica PowerCenter as well. That's a bit more of a robust ETL solution.

I would rate the solution at six out of ten.

We have data that needs to be migrated. There is also a scan inventory. We create web data, pull it, search it, and then find answers and report stakeholders. So for this process, we use the SSIS.

You can get data from any data source with SSIS and dump it to any outside source. It is helpful. Getting, extracting, converting, and dumping data doesn't require much effort because we can do everything in the user interface. You drag and drop, then give the required input. It's intuitive.

Sometimes we need to connect to AWS to get additional data sources, so we have to install some external LAN and not a regular RDBMS. We need external tools to connect. It would be great if SSIS included these tools. I'd also like some additional features for row indexing and data conversion. 

We've been using SSIS for about four and a half years. 

If you run SSIS from the local system, it will lag, but it will work properly if you host on the cloud somewhere. It's a headache every time you run this locally.

Almost 10 percent of our users work with SSIS. It's more than a hundred. 

We haven't had that many problems. I have interacted with Microsoft support for some things, but it was a few minor issues. And with the updated VPA, it has been clear. I was satisfied with the support. We don't need support for these types of issues. We don't need to contact the support team or stop our business. 

The initial setup is never a complex process because the interface is user-friendly. If you are working with complex situations, then it can get complicated. We have a DBA team to handle the deployment. We must follow a process to deploy, so we need to get approval whenever there is a change. It's not easy for us, but it's still good, and it doesn't take much time. 

SSIS is on the cheaper side. In terms of value for the money, rivals are offering more database formats and cost processing, so SQL is lagging somewhat. 

I rate SSIS eight out of 10. I recommend it. 

We primarily use the solution for integration packages for ETL in order to build data warehouses.

The workflow features have been very valuable. You can have automated workflows and all the steps are controlled. The workflow functionality of integration services is excellent.

The solution should offer more information online for users of SSIS. There are only a few general data sources available, but it would be helpful if there was more extensive information.

The solution could also use some more intelligent discs for data manipulation, or maybe some artificial intelligence as well. It needs more integration tools, so you can connect to different sources.

The solution is quite stable.

The solution is very scalable. The amount of people that use SSIS from our end depends on the project, so it varies. We increase the usage of this product based on the projects that we get. Basically, each project that we do, we use this solution for integration purposes.

Technical support is quite good.

I've always used SSIS. We never considered any other solution. We might have used some tools that were developed in-house occasionally, but by and large, we always use SSIS.

The initial setup was straightforward.

We use the on-premises version of the solution.

I would recommend the solution to others. I'd give it a rating of eight out of ten.

We use this solution for ETL, which includes data summation and cleaning. 

This solution used in an on-premise deployment, for now.

I have used most of the standard SQL features, but the ones that stand out are the Data Flows and Bulk Import.

The synchronous processing needs to be improved. For batch processing, it works fine, but when you start to do real-time processing, I find that this solution is not strong, depending on how you use it. If you use it for short batches, micro batching, that might work, but it is not as good for queuing real-time processing. This solution needs full support for real-time processing.

The solution needs better support for XML and JSON.

I use this product extensively, on a daily basis. It is stable.

Over time, I think we'll most likely start to decrease usage. This will happen as we move to more real-time processing, and we will most likely start to do more queue processing. In terms of batch processing, it will scale down considerably.

In the catalog, it's supposed to be scalable. I think that it has support for an SQL cluster.

In my opinion, I think it's a bit more limited in terms of scalability, although it scales with the database. I would say that the scalability is intermediate in terms of being able to launch multiple instances, or it could do load balancing as well. I think that would be a bit more challenging.

We haven't needed to contact Microsoft technical support. When we have trouble we usually use Google to search for what we need to find out. Also, in terms of issues, there's a lot of information on SQLServerCentral and Stack Overflow.

For the most part, we started with this solution. 

The initial setup of this solution is pretty much straightforward.

If you want to develop with Visual Studio then you have to install the data service add-ons afterward, so it is a bit cumbersome. Then, if you want to use the catalog on the database, with deployment there are often security issues and you have to get an SQL catalog up and running. This can also be a bit cumbersome.

I would say that it takes a day or two to deploy this solution in a new environment, and it can be completed by one or two people. A single developer may be sufficient to deploy and maintain the system.

I implemented some of this myself and had help in terms of setting up the security. There are often security settings that require the assistance of a DBA.

This solution was already in place. That's what is available and it's what people know. Going forward, this will most likely change.

My advice to anybody implementing this solution is to look into whether to use it on a catalog in a database, versus using package deployment. There are pros and cons to both approaches in terms of deployment and security. I would say that's something that needs to be evaluated quite early. There are lots of benefits to the catalog, but also a bit more admin attached to it.

Another consideration is real-time processing needs. If this is a requirement then I would recommend against using this solution, unless the next version has a new set of features specifically for real-time processing.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

The solution is primarily used for the ETL process. Another use case is transforming data from one format to another format.

The solution is easy to use and developer friendly. Many customizations can be performed with a good grasp of the C# language.

There are a lot of connectors that are not available right now. Some third-party connectors and adapters are available, but not directly from Microsoft data, which is an issue. And in terms of maturity, it is a good product. But, again, the way the industry uses these ETL tools, SSIS is not preferred because of many factors. Microsoft is no longer promoting the tool itself and is more focused on its cloud framework. That could be one of the reasons, but a smaller company prefers to SSIS because it is usually free with the SQL Server.

There are a lot of things that Microsoft could improve in relation to SSIS. One major problem we faced was when attempting to move some Excel files to our SQL Server. The Excel provider has a limitation that prevents importing more than 255 columns from a particular Excel file to the database. This restriction posed a significant issue for us, and as a workaround, we had to convert the files to CSV format before importing them. While it involved some manual effort, it was not a big deal since it was a one-time task. These are some small areas of improvement. There's one tool, a very famous and popular tool among banking clients, that supports this kind of data load in SSIS. 

Moreover, in the case of a pivot, which is available in your Excel, there are a lot of ways an Excel file can be created, and you can have a favorite kind of data format in Excel. Importing data of that kind into SSIS can be problematic, and it cannot be done easily. It requires writing some sort of custom code. These basic issues need improvements. 

However, I don't think Microsoft would be willing to make any modifications to the existing capabilities provided by the tool. The reason is that there are already many third-party vendors offering similar functionality through their plugins. 

For example, you can install these plugins within your Visual Studio, and they provide an extra set of features integrated into Visual Studio and SSIS. Perhaps that's why Microsoft has stopped actively improving upon certain features. But, again, this introduces an overhead in terms of development cost. To access additional tools or features, I have to purchase them from another vendor and then implement them. 

Moreover, if something is not directly supported by Microsoft and relies on third-party tools, it can become a significant issue, as I'll have to depend on those vendors, which poses another challenge.

I have been using SSIS for more than 12 years.

The solution is pretty mature.

I rate the solution’s stability a nine out of ten.

We have never faced any significant issues as long as your underlying hardware has a good amount of resources.

Scalability depends on the kind of workload and implementation you are giving to SSIS.

It is best suited for small and medium. However, for enterprises, it depends on the specific implementation they require. Real-time scenarios might not be the best fit, but for batch processing, it can still be suitable.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten. It essentially gives most of the small and medium use cases, you will be easily able to implement and scale SSIS.

It is very difficult to get support from Microsoft. They will support you till they're getting paid. Microsoft is not interested in support in case of a small issue or help. It is very difficult to get support directly from Microsoft.

When it comes to ease of use, SSIS has an advantage over a tool called Informatica, which is also an ETL tool I've worked with. SSIS is more developer-friendly, even though Informatica provides GUI support. However, SSIS has a wider range of connectors compared to Informatica, making it easier to perform various transformations within the server itself. 

On the other hand, Informatica's repository feature is quite robust. SSIS has a repository feature but doesn't have its own implementation. To use a repository feature like DFS, Azure DevOps, or SVN, you need to purchase extra licenses and integrate them into your solution.

The initial setup was pretty simple. To install the SQL Server, select the feature during installation on the same server. In the case of a separate server, opt for SSIS service installation instead of installing the SQL Server, and it will be pretty quick. You can have your server up and running within ten minutes.

The solution is economical. It comes free with the SQL Server. You don't have to worry about the pricing as long as you're installing both services on the same server.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. There is room for improvement.

SSIS orchestrates data transformation in the environment, which includes Oracle and SQL Server databases.

The most valuable aspect of this solution is that it is simple to use and it offers a flexible custom script task.

Connectivity to databases other than Microsoft. This is the Achilles' heel.

Integration with other vendors' connectivity should be available as well as being able to read and write data to databases or data storage other than with Microsoft.

There is connectivity with other databases, however, this is the most significant issue that has to be addressed.

I have been using SSIS for five years, but I first used it in 2007.

SSIS is quite stable.

SSIS is moderately scalable.

The company is fairly substantial. They have approximately 400,000 people in the company, but I am not aware of how many are using this solution. It is quite a bit.

There are a lot of developers using it.

I am not aware if they plan to increase their usage, it is not within my decision.

In terms of my immediate surroundings, we intend to use cloud tools, Azure technologies, and Microsoft. First and foremost, Microsoft ADF. Azure Data Factory is the cloud's SSIS replacement.

For this particular product, we have not used technical support.

I started with SSIS but then switched to IBM Datastage.

That was where I worked, this was already in use at another organization. 

I recently moved jobs, and this is the platform of choice for ETL once again. Informatica data center was used in various other organizations. 

I was attending Informatica workshops. I wasn't Informatica actively, but I might in the future, perhaps soon.

The initial setup is straightforward.

It only took five minutes to deploy SSIS. 

For maintenance, we rely on our platform team.

We will probably need one person for maintenance. Let's say it's only one person. But I'm not speaking on behalf of the entire company; I'm speaking on behalf of a single team of perhaps 1,000 people.

We did not use a consultant or third-party vendor, everything was done in-house.

This is difficult since it is included in the SQL server license. 

Depending on the arrangement that a certain company has with Microsoft, it may supply the permanent license that is included in the SQL server license, or it may be a time-bound license if it is a partner license or other enterprise license. 

I am not sure what our relationship with Microsoft is like or what the program is, but I believe it's some sort of enterprise license.

In the past, I worked with permanent licenses.

I would recommend SSIS to others who would be interested in using it.

I would rate SSIS an eight out of ten.

This is an infrastructure tool and our primary use case is for data warehouse integration.

The solution has enabled us to perform tasks more quickly.

The UI is very user-friendly and I like that the solution has the ability to adapt to multiple data sources. 

I haven't found too many successful scaling options and that's something that could be improved.

I've been using this solution for over 10 years. 

The solution is stable. 

The solution could be more scalable. 

The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment took a day and we did it in-house. 

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Some of the valuable features I have found with this solution has been the variety of transformations that are possible and it works well with SQL servers. The majority of our clients that I worked for, their whole systems of data is using SQL server which has worked better for them.

The script component is very powerful, things that you cannot normally do, is feasible through C#. If you can write a script you can import it through the Script Task.

The solution could improve on integrating with other types of data sources. We had issues with connecting to Oracle, it did not do as good of a job as it did with SQL servers. 

In my experience, more efficiency is needed when it comes to dealing with huge volumes of data. However, this is also dependant on the server capacity.

In an upcoming release, they should update the features to facilitate efficient data transfers. 

I have been using the solution for approximately 10 years.

We have not experienced any behavioural differences with the operations of the solution, it is stable.

We typically implement the solution for enterprise-size companies.

The installation was easy.

It would be beneficial if the solution had a less costly cloud offering.

Informatica and Talent, are two options I am currently evaluating.

Customers have moved on pass SSIS and use Azure Data Factory, Databricks or something similar. We have a few of our customers looking to moving on to Informatica or Talent. This is how I was led to itcentralstation.com, to learn more about SSIS and how it was compared to Informatica. 

I have never had a situation where a particular transformation was not possible in SSIS. We have always been able to meet the demands of our need with SSIS.

I rate SSIS an eight out of ten.