Azure Data Factory vs IBM InfoSphere Information Server comparison

Microsoft and IBM are both solutions in the Data Integration category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2, while IBM is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 7.4% mindshare in DI, compared to IBM’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Azure Data Factory

Read 91 Azure Data Factory reviews

15,713 Views
10,999 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

IBM InfoSphere Information ...

Read 7 IBM InfoSphere Information Server reviews

1,223 Views
978 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Data Factory

IBM InfoSphere Information ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

IBM InfoSphere Information Server and Azure Data Factory compete in the data integration and management space. Azure Data Factory appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features and overall value.

Features: IBM InfoSphere Information Server offers data integration capabilities, data quality tools, and metadata management. Azure Data Factory provides cloud data integration, supports a vast range of data sources, and offers scalable orchestration tools.

Room for Improvement: IBM InfoSphere Information Server could benefit from simplification in deployment, enhancing user experience, and reducing resource intensity. Azure Data Factory may enhance its integration with certain on-premise systems, improve pipeline monitoring tools, and offer more advanced data transformation capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM InfoSphere Information Server's deployment is complex but offers strong enterprise support. Azure Data Factory provides smoother cloud-based deployment with robust Microsoft support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM InfoSphere Information Server has higher initial setup costs, impacting early-stage ROI but offering long-term value for on-prem solutions. Azure Data Factory's pay-as-you-go pricing model provides quicker ROI, aligning costs with growth.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Data Factory vs. IBM InfoSphere Information Server Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Data Factory vs. IBM InfoSphere Information Server

July 2025

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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

Azure Data Factory

Ranking in Data Integration

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Data Warehouse (2nd)

IBM InfoSphere Information ...

Ranking in Data Integration

31st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Metadata Management (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Azure Data Factory is 7.4%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Information Server is 0.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Integration

Featured Reviews

Joy Maitra

Sr. Technical Architect at Hexaware Technologies Limited

Facilitates seamless data pipeline creation with good analytics and and thorough monitoring

Azure Data Factory is a low code, no code platform, which is helpful. It provides many prebuilt functionalities that assist in building data pipelines. Also, it facilitates easy transformation with all required functionalities for analytics. Furthermore, it connects to different sources out-of-the-box, making integration much easier. The monitoring is very thorough, though a more readable version would be appreciable.

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UmeshKumar1

Business Analyst Team Lead at Accenture

Prompt support, reliable, but lacking scalability

IBM InfoSphere Information Server has multiple tools in that product suite. However, we mainly use it as an integration tool I have been using IBM InfoSphere Information Server for approximately five years. IBM InfoSphere Information Server is stable. IBM InfoSphere Information Server should be…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution has provided us with an easier, and more efficient way to carry out data migration tasks."

"Data Factory's best feature is the ease of setting up pipelines for data and cloud integrations."

"Its integrability with the rest of the activities on Azure is most valuable."

"One of the most valuable features of Azure Data Factory is the drag-and-drop interface. This helps with workflow management because we can just drag any tables or data sources we need. Because of how easy it is to drag and drop, we can deliver things very quickly. It's more customizable through visual effect."

"I like its integration with SQL pools, its ability to work with Databricks, its pipelines, and the serverless architecture are the most effective features."

"The data copy template is a valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature is the ease in which you can create an ETL pipeline."

"The tool's most valuable features are its connectors. It has many out-of-the-box connectors. We use ADF for ETL processes. Our main use case involves integrating data from various databases, processing it, and loading it into the target database. ADF plays a crucial role in orchestrating these ETL workflows."

More Azure Data Factory pros

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"This solution is extremely flexible and scalable."

"The integration with different technologies is the most valuable feature."

"IBM InfoSphere Information Server is stable."

Cons

"The thing we missed most was data update, but this is now available as of two weeks ago."

"Customer service is not satisfactory. Third-party personnel handle support and rely on a knowledge repository."

"Areas for improvement in Azure Data Factory include connectivity and integration. When you use integration runtime, whenever there's a failure, the backup process in Azure Data Factory takes time, so this is another area for improvement."

"On the UI side, they could make it a little more intuitive in terms of how to add the radius components. Somebody who has been working with tools like Informatica or DataStage gets very used to how the UI looks and feels."

"Azure Data Factory should be cheaper to move data to a data center abroad for calamities in case of disasters."

"The solution needs to be more connectable to its own services."

"I rate Azure Data Factory six out of 10 for stability. ADF is stable now, but we had problems recently with indexing on an SQL database. It's slow when dealing with a huge volume of data. It depends on whether the database is configured as general purpose or hyperscale."

"There is room for improvement primarily in its streaming capabilities. For structured streaming and machine learning model implementation within an ETL process, it lags behind tools like Informatica."

More Azure Data Factory cons

"Their technical support needs improvement."

"IBM InfoSphere Information Server should be more scalable. It should have the option to change the configuration to run on a single, non-multiple node, or multi-threading processing."

"There are certain shortcomings in the cloud side of the solution, where improvements are required."

"This solution would benefit from the engine being made more lightweight."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing is a pay-as-you-go model, where you pay for what you consume."

"I am aware of the pricing of Azure Data Factory, but I prefer not to disclose specific details."

"Data Factory is expensive."

"For our use case, it is not expensive. We take into the picture everything: resources, learning curve, and maintenance."

"The pricing is a bit on the higher end."

"ADF is cheaper compared to AWS."

"I don't see a cost; it appears to be included in general support."

"Understanding the pricing model for Data Factory is quite complex."

More Azure Data Factory pricing and cost advice

"The licensing cost of IBM InfoSphere Information Server depends on how many users there are."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

23%

Government

16%

Insurance Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

How do you select the right cloud ETL tool?

AWS Glue and Azure Data factory for ELT best performance cloud services.

See all answers

How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica PowerCenter?

Azure Data Factory is flexible, modular, and works well. In terms of cost, it is not too pricey. It offers the stability and reliability I am looking for, good scalability, and is easy to set up an...

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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...

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What do you like most about IBM InfoSphere Information Server?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

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What needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere Information Server?

There are certain shortcomings in the cloud side of the solution, where improvements are required. In our company, we are presently in the process of doing a PoC phase since we have the solution cu...

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What is your primary use case for IBM InfoSphere Information Server?

I use IBM InfoSphere Information Server in retail banking for transformation purposes.

See all answers

Comparisons

Snowflake vs Azure Data Factory

Compared 9% of the time

Informatica PowerCenter vs Azure Data Factory

Compared 7% of the time

Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Azure Data Factory

Compared 5% of the time

Alteryx Designer vs Azure Data Factory

Compared 5% of the time

Palantir Foundry vs Azure Data Factory

Compared 5% of the time

More Azure Data Factory Competitors

IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs IBM InfoSphere Information Server

Compared 45% of the time

Oracle GoldenGate vs IBM InfoSphere Information Server

Compared 17% of the time

Qlik Replicate vs IBM InfoSphere Information Server

Compared 11% of the time

IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog vs IBM InfoSphere Information Server

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM InfoSphere Information Server Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Data Factory

August 2025

Download Azure Data Factory product report

Buyer's Guide

Data Integration

August 2025

IBM InfoSphere Information Server report

Download IBM InfoSphere Information Server product report

Also Known As

No data available

InfoSphere Information Server, IBM Information Server

Overview

Azure Data Factory efficiently manages and integrates data from various sources, enabling seamless movement and transformation across platforms. Its valuable features include seamless integration with Azure services, handling large data volumes, flexible transformation, user-friendly interface, extensive connectors, and scalability. Users have experienced improved team performance, workflow simplification, enhanced collaboration, streamlined processes, and boosted productivity.

Microsoft

IBM InfoSphere Information Server is a market-leading data integration platform which includes a family of products that enable you to understand, cleanse, monitor, transform, and deliver data, as well as to collaborate to bridge the gap between business and IT. InfoSphere Information Server provides massively parallel processing (MPP) capabilities to deliver a highly scalable and flexible integration platform that handles a variety of data volumes (big, small, and everything in between).

IBM

Sample Customers

1. Adobe 2. BMW 3. Coca-Cola 4. General Electric 5. Johnson & Johnson 6. LinkedIn 7. Mastercard 8. Nestle 9. Pfizer 10. Samsung 11. Siemens 12. Toyota 13. Unilever 14. Verizon 15. Walmart 16. Accenture 17. American Express 18. AT&T 19. Bank of America 20. Cisco 21. Deloitte 22. ExxonMobil 23. Ford 24. General Motors 25. IBM 26. JPMorgan Chase 27. Microsoft (Azure Data Factory is developed by Microsoft) 28. Oracle 29. Procter & Gamble 30. Salesforce 31. Shell 32. Visa

Canadian National Railway Company, Chickasaw Nation Division of Commerce, Swedish Armed Forces, BG RCI, Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd., University of Arizona, Biogrid Australia

Buyer's Guide

Azure Data Factory vs. IBM InfoSphere Information Server

July 2025

Free Report: Azure Data Factory vs. IBM InfoSphere Information Server

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