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Ab Initio Co>Operating System vs SAP Data Services 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Ab Initio Co>Operating System
Ranking in Data Integration
24th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Workload Automation (19th)
SAP Data Services
Ranking in Data Integration
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Ab Initio Co>Operating System is 1.3%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Data Services is 1.5%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP Data Services1.5%
Ab Initio Co>Operating System1.3%
Other97.2%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

AM
Senior Solutions Architect at IDS Comercial
Enables creation of sophisticated applications with powerful parallelism and quick, effective support
The most valuable features of Ab Initio Co>Operating System are its performance and the ability to implement parallelism. There are three kinds of parallelism in Ab Initio Co>Operating System, which allow us to create very sophisticated solutions for almost any kind of application. This parallelism is one of the strongest features. Additionally, its scalability offers a unique way to escalate applications that differs from other technologies. In terms of data processing, the emphasis is on understanding the data. Data profiling is fundamental, and Ab Initio Co>Operating System integrates tools to perform this within the GDE, as well as specialized products for this purpose. Data profiling graphs can be implemented when necessary to understand the data sources.
reviewer2686500 - PeerSpot reviewer
SAP BI Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
Integration has become more robust and seamless
SAP Data Services is mainly used for extraction of data, and it works with all databases. The flows and everything are configured effectively. One of the most valuable features is that it is integrated. Compared to the past, it is much more robust and easier to use. The only issue is that documentation is not up to the mark. The data quality management features support our business because we can fetch anything based on the requirements. Before, we used to have a tough time getting data, but now, with HANA and all these tools, it is seamless.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ab Initio reaches the highest performance and is very flexible in processing huge amounts of data."
"The graphical interface of Ab Initio Co>Operating System is very easy to understand and allows me to visualize the data flow effectively."
"Co>Operating System's most valuable feature is its ability to process bulk data effectively."
"Ab Initio Co>Operating System excels at providing data lineage regardless of the type of data I have."
"Ab Initio Co>Operating System support is the best I have encountered."
"The HANA database, which is very fast, is a valuable feature."
"The user interface is ok."
"The initial setup is not complex."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Data Services is the integration with data sources."
"The maintenance of data services is the solution's most valuable feature."
"The API tool in this product is very valuable; it is very easy to onboard and use."
"The BA reporting tools, such as Data Services, and ETL tool in SAP Data Services are the most valuable. When we had in-memory requirements, we used HANA. HANA is most preferably for most the customers for in-memory. SAP is the first company that created the in-memory concept."
"The most valuable feature is the ETL functionality."
 

Cons

"Ab Initio Co>Operating System is a very expensive product."
"Co>Operating System would be improved with more integrations for less well-known technologies."
"While Ab Initio Co>Operating System has positive attributes, I find that certain features can sometimes be difficult to understand."
"An awesome improvement would be big data solutions, for example, implementing some kind of business intelligence or neural networks for artificial intelligence."
"The migration of the solution between different environments is quite complex."
"I want some more business intelligence applications. People need to know more and more about data, including the transformation rules, etc. Informatica is a better product for data cataloging. SAP should update the data catalog."
"Integration with other products could be improved."
"In the future, Data Services should offer a cloud version."
"The solution should improve connectivity with more source systems and target systems."
"The initial setup is complex."
"It would be nice if this solution was a bit easier to move from development to production."
"Regarding the pricing for SAP Data Services, I think it's on the higher side. Now, they are coming up with many pricing options, which is tricky; they offer one thing for free, but charge for nine others."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Co>Operating System's pricing is on the expensive end since it tends to be used by big enterprises."
"The price is very reasonable."
"Speaking about prices, Oracle and SAP are market leaders. So, the prices are more."
"The license price is expensive but medium to large-scale companies, should be able to afford it. Other solutions, such as Talend are easier to afford for smaller companies. Depending on the sources of the data where you are receiving your data you could be paying for more than one license."
"Pricing is good, there is no problem."
"At the entry level, if you're using it only for data integration, it is a little bit cheap. However, for large organizations it can be expensive. There are additional costs apart from the license."
"The enterprise version of SAP Data Services is free."
"The price of SAP Data Services is a little high when compared to other solutions. Due to the pricing and capabilities, many clients are switching to other solutions."
"Its pricing is as per the enterprise agreement and not a concern for us."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
5%
Healthcare Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise36
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Ab Initio Co>Operating System?
While Ab Initio Co>Operating System has positive attributes, I find that certain features can sometimes be difficult to understand. When I have too many import feeds opened, they can conflict wi...
What is your primary use case for Ab Initio Co>Operating System?
The flexibility of data type and source integration for my IT ecosystem is excellent because Ab Initio Co>Operating System uses metadata, so it doesn't actually access the data; it takes the dat...
What advice do you have for others considering Ab Initio Co>Operating System?
I have not been involved in the security access of the platform's data security features, but I know that Ab Initio Co>Operating System is very careful because it doesn't access any customer dat...
How do you evaluate the ratio of price to quality for SAP Data Services?
I believe the license for the product is fair, even though some competitors offer similar services at lower prices. The difference between the Edge edition and the next one up is significant in pr...
Would you recommend SAP Data Services to complete beginners?
I think after some preparation, a beginner will be able to use SAP Data Services, however, if you are completely unprepared, you may have some issues. I think that in particular you will need a mo...
How has SAP Data Services helped your organization?
SAP Data Services has helped our whole staff understand the data across various sources and systems within the company. Not everyone who works at my organization is an IT expert - most just have av...
 

Also Known As

Co>Operating System
SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, SAP BusinessObjects Data Integrator, BusinessObjects Data Integrator
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

A multinational transportation company
EMC Corporation, LivePerson, Eldorado, Mozzart, The VELUX Group, AOK Bundesverband, Hilti Group, Nissha Printing Company Ltd., Asian Paints, Aareal Bank Group, Migros Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Ab Initio Co>Operating System vs. SAP Data Services and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.