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Alation Data Catalog vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

Alation Data Catalog
Ranking in Data Governance
7th
Ranking in Metadata Management
2nd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Data Governance
2nd
Ranking in Metadata Management
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
185
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (3rd), Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (10th), Business-to-Business Middleware (5th), API Management (7th), Cloud Data Integration (3rd), Test Data Management (3rd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (2nd), Data Masking (2nd), Test Data Management Services (3rd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of Alation Data Catalog is 5.8%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is 5.7%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Governance
 

Featured Reviews

Brahma Lam - PeerSpot reviewer
Has metadata cataloging features but needs changes in domain model
The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature.  The tool's domain model needs to be changed.  Alation Data Catalog is stable.  The solution is scalable.  Alation Data Catalog's deployment is easy. I rate it a nine out of ten. Deployment takes only two to three hours to complete.…
Saikat Ghosh - PeerSpot reviewer
Match and merge functionality is still the best but cloud version needs more functionality
There are various areas for improvement in IDMC. Enhancements on basic data management functionality and the UI front, such as multiple templates and improved grid views, would be beneficial. Bulk data management features could be improved from the UI perspective to get to the level of the on prem versions of Informatica MDM. The tool needs to mature but missing small but important features, like restricted dynamic attributes functionality, data inheritance rules in master hierachies, identifiers not being passed in jobs is a drawback.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Alation Data Catalog's best feature is the SQL query publication."
"Alation Data Catalog provides a nice interface for connecting to the database, querying the data, and working on it."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the ALLIE AI feature."
"Alation Data Catalog was very useful for sharing SQL queries easily in a platform."
"The most valuable feature is cloud integration."
"The tool's metadata cataloging is the most valuable feature."
"The solution is used to query MySQL clients and store data and documentation."
"The most valuable features of Alation Data Catalog are the simplicity in onboarding data sources, the security in securing the data sources, and the way the various users of Alation Data Catalog communicate with each other through a messenger."
"The governance process was fully manual before, but Axon helped us configure those processes, giving us more visibility, transparency, and control over the data."
"The dictionary, the search, and the ratings are without a doubt the most beneficial components of this solution."
"It's good for tool management, maintaining the golden record of customer status."
"The product is scalable and excellent for enterprise-level organizations."
"The most valuable feature of Informatica Axon has been the data marketplace."
"The solution scales well."
"Informatica Cloud Data Integration is stable."
"You can extract and transfer your data as you wish it to be consumed later."
 

Cons

"Alation Data Catalog doesn't support end-to-end lineage. By that, I mean the ability to trace the movement of data from when it first comes into our organization to where it's consumed."
"We have had issues setting up the connectors and getting Alation's support team to resolve issues."
"It would be good if the tool could show the output from the records while querying."
"I know that this has been on their roadmap and they're working on it, but as a whole, there's an untapped reservoir of capabilities within their article features that could be used and built upon."
"Alation Data Catalog does not provide end-to-end data lineage."
"The tool's domain model needs to be changed."
"The interface is not user-friendly."
"The product's data governance features need improvement."
"There are various areas for improvement in IDMC. Enhancements on the UI front, such as multiple templates and improved grid views, would be beneficial."
"I have received feedback from certain teams and there is a steep learning curve to use this solution."
"Informatica MDM could improve the interdependency with integration. The solution sometimes becomes a bit difficult to change considering a lot of interdependency with the integration. There can be some improvement in the workflows and they can introduce more artificial intelligence."
"The solution still is a bit manual in its functionality. We want t to be more automation-driven."
"Exploring the possibility of incorporating AI capabilities that can suggest additional rules would significantly streamline our data analysis process following data profiling."
"Though EDC has maximum coverage, a few things were not available to scan, but I think EDC is evolving to address this issue."
"The data discovery isn't that good yet for Salesforce. We have another tool that we use for this. It may be a problem because Salesforce on the cloud."
"Error reporting and debugging need improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is a little expensive."
"I don't have all the details on the pricing side, but the solution was more expensive than originally expected."
"The platform is moderately expensive compared to the other competitors in the market."
"A three-year agreement is better than a one-year rolling 12-month agreement from a price point of view. I'd recommend looking at a three-year deal because you can't stand up a catalog and produce value in 12 months."
"It is an expensive solution. I would say it is the most expensive solution in the market."
"The pricing structure is good, but having to pay for extra drivers to be used in an ICS environment makes me a little nervous."
"I rate the product's pricing a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"Our customers sometimes are able to negotiate a much better price for Informatica Cloud Data Integration based on their relationship with the vendor."
"Informatica MDM's pricing is not cheap but comparable to other vendors."
"Informatica MDM's price could be lower."
"I rate the product's pricing a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price."
"I have no idea what the price actually is. It is probably not going to be the cheapest, but it is a pretty stable and robust platform from the backend standpoint."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alation Data Catalog?
The platform's most valuable features are workflow automation, automated business metadata tagging, technical metadata tagging, and data integration with data quality tools or platforms.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alation Data Catalog?
The price difference between Alation Data Catalog and Collibra was not significant. Collibra is a little bit expensive than Alation, but I presented the benefits of having that platform, so that li...
What needs improvement with Alation Data Catalog?
Alation Data Catalog is not user-friendly for business users. Its user experience is comparable to a Wikipedia page, lacking good visualization. In a fast-paced world, we need to grasp information ...
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
Azure Data Factory is a solid product offering many transformation functions; It has pre-load and post-load transformations, allowing users to apply transformations either in code by using Power Q...
Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?
Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge...
What are the biggest benefits of using Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
When it comes to cloud data integration, this solution can provide you with multiple benefits, including: Overhead reduction by integrating data on any cloud in various ways Effective integration ...
 

Also Known As

Alation
ActiveVOS, Active Endpoints, BPM, Address Verification, Persistent Data Masking, Cloud Test Data Management, PIM, , Enterprise Data Catalog, Data Integration Hub, Cloud Data Integration, Data Quality, Cloud API and App Integration
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Salesforce, Snowflake, Citrix, eBay, TripAdvisor, Albertsons, Nasdaq, Pfizer, LinkedIn, Finnair.
The Travel Company, Carbonite
Find out what your peers are saying about Alation Data Catalog vs. Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
861,803 professionals have used our research since 2012.