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I work exclusively with governance and Infor ION, along with some add-on products such as FactoryTrack and quotation components.

FactoryTrack is an extension add-on product which is part of the Infor M3 core system. It is a third-party application that provides warehouse mobility through handheld devices.

As a consultant, I find that Infor ION is easy to use. When you buy an Infor ION product, you can start using it from day one, and there is a very short learning curve. In terms of SAP and Oracle, those are easy, but users have to remember certain codes and other components. In contrast, Infor ION is very user-friendly; users do not have to know what is happening in the background.

For example, if you need to create a purchase order, you have a dashboard specifically created for that purpose. You do not even have to go to the application; you can create it directly from the dashboard. You will not feel that you are working in an application. Although it calls certain programs in the backend, users do not need to remember program numbers and other components, which is the case for SAP.

Regarding workflow automation, it can improve operational efficiency depending on specific implementations. These workflows are not standard processes but are specifically designed based on customer needs.

For instance, with a custom order workflow, some organizations may have two approvals while others have three or four levels of approval, which require certain prerequisites. With varying approval limits, the system needs to verify previous approval levels and total values before allowing further approvals. The organization's preferred order review process also plays a role. For large orders, multiple factors need consideration, such as product details, country of origin sanctions, and customer track history before approval. These customizations are created based on specific customer requirements.

Each product has its disadvantages; for Infor ION, reporting is the biggest downside. The standard reports available are not particularly impressive. When users click for a report, they expect it to be visually appealing, which is not the case, especially with Infor M3.

From a technical standpoint, comparing Infor ION to SAP and Oracle, SAP HANA appears much better currently. However, this depends on the application level or the customization that vendors provide. The UX or UI component is crucial, which is why multiple small organizations focus specifically on UX/UI development. They develop visually appealing reports that can be used in Excel or Outlook. Some customers even create orders from Outlook. The implementation quality ultimately depends on the expertise of the person implementing that particular functionality.

I have been working specifically with Infor ION for about seven to eight years.

The real-time data synchronization process has significant impact on business operations, varying by organization size. Small organizations may not experience impact for many years. However, large organizations with multiple global offices processing substantial data, such as 10,000 orders daily, might notice decreased system performance over time.

Data optimization and archiving become necessary as volumes increase significantly. With 10,000 daily records accumulating to approximately 100 million records annually, prioritizing daily-needed data becomes essential after two years. Infor ION appears ideal for mid-size organizations rather than larger ones with revenue over 500 million or 700 million, as these applications demand greater resources. While implementation in larger organizations is possible, it may not be optimal.

Comparing Infor ION's pricing to SAP and Oracle depends on perspective. For a small user base of around 50 users, implementation might seem costly, as local ERPs and open-source options such as Odoo are available at lower costs.

However, for organizations spread across multiple countries or continents, the long-term operating cost is more economical. While SAP may be less expensive initially, its long-term maintenance is quite extensive, whereas Infor ION's maintenance costs are more manageable.

ION is used as a part of Infor M3. Infor ION is primarily used for report development and customization. For instance, when organizations want output documents with specific elements such as fancy logos, footers, and customizations, they use ION along with IDM (Infor Document Manager) for document capture.

The alert management feature helps with process optimization overall, but requires administrator configuration and depends on the extent of application usage. While some customers implement it, better hardware is necessary both server-side and locally. Cloud hosting is possible, but local hardware quality affects graphics and user experience, particularly regarding monitor resolution and laptop capabilities.

Regarding data flow visualizations, data lakes are available, and BI tools can be built on top of them. Customers use various BI tools and reporting systems such as QlikView. The Infor data lake can receive data and support dashboard creation.

When connecting legacy systems with new technologies, standard messaging protocols can be effectively integrated with Infor M3, though integration success depends on specific message types such as EDIFACT or EDI.

This review rates Infor ION 8 out of 10.

I worked for around seven to eight months on a project in the insurance domain using Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and there I was working as a Senior Solution Architect or a Principal Cloud Consultant.

We use the data integration features of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) with a focus primarily on the ETL perspective or the data warehouse perspective, where we are taking different data sources, combining them, implementing some data quality rules on top of it, and then storing it in our data warehouse environment. From there, we are using that data for our reporting and analytics purposes.

We also use the IDMC Data Catalog, but that is very limited, and we are using it only for governance purposes. As a Solution Architect, my main involvement is to design the solution at a very high level; at a ground level, I'm not using the Data Catalog on a day-to-day basis.

The best part about the Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is the modularity; when I say modularity, I mean the things get easier by working into different modules. For example, if you want to implement the Master Data Management solution, we are only limited to the master data solution. If you want to go with the admin side of the things, then we are only limited to the admin side of the things. The second important thing I appreciate about this is the more focus from the AI angle, Artificial Intelligence angle, which is inbuilt into the IDMC.

Definitely, we see return on investment from this solution in terms of time; time reduction or cost benefits is what we are getting very good results from.

One of my clients has a requirement; they want to integrate metadata into the process, which means, for example, if I just want to implement a new field into my database, that field needs to be reflected throughout, let's say, 200 mappings. This highlights the need for a data-driven approach.

My experience with technical support from Informatica is quite interesting; I would rate it as nine out of ten for Informatica PowerCenter kind of products or the Informatica integration products, because my team can do some hands-on using their free licenses or one-month kind of products. However, for products Master Data Management or related to MDM or Data Governance, there is no way by which we can directly practice, and my team struggles at that point.

I worked for around seven to eight months on a project in the insurance domain using Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) where I was working as a Senior Solution Architect or a Principal Cloud Consultant.

I find Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) to be a sustainable and scalable solution.

My experience with technical support from Informatica is quite interesting; I would rate it as nine out of ten for Informatica PowerCenter kind of products or the Informatica integration products, because my team can do some hands-on using their free licenses or one-month kind of products. However, for products Master Data Management or related to MDM or Data Governance, there is no way by which we can directly practice, and my team struggles at that point.

My experience with technical support would indeed be rated as nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is moderate; it is not complex.

We see return on investment from this solution in terms of time; time reduction or cost benefits is what we are getting very good results from.

My company is a partner with Informatica, and we are the service provider for the company, which defines my relationship with Informatica.

My main role is not involved in the pricing side of things because that is already between the company and the clients. My title is Principal Cloud Engineer at Fifth Dimension Robotics.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) a nine out of ten.