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FME 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

FME
Ranking in Data Integration
23rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP Data Services
Ranking in Data Integration
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of FME is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Data Services is 2.3%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Alan Bloor - PeerSpot reviewer
Great for handling large volumes of data, but it is priced a bit high
When I do coding, I think about every single function. Some of these functions can be very elementary, like doing a substring or some capitalization. But FME removes all that coding because it's a transformer, so the time to develop an application to get to a point where you're producing results is decreased massively. It used to take weeks and months to develop software, and now I can use something like FME, and within one day, we get results. We can look at and validate data. We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else.
Ramesh Pampana - PeerSpot reviewer
Has consistently provided impressive data handling capabilities and robust security features
Some of the most valuable features of SAP Data Services ( /products/sap-data-services-reviews ) include data extraction where SAP is the best in that perspective, but when it comes to analytics or the reporting tool, I prefer to connect with Microsoft Power BI ( /products/microsoft-power-bi-reviews ), which is a fantastic tool. Typically, from an end-user perspective, SAP has a huge amount of data, in terms of terabytes of data, but when you analyze that, the best form of visualization is always through Microsoft Power BI ( /products/microsoft-power-bi-reviews ). SAP Data Services provides a best-in-class return on investment, as SAP's vision and forecast are absolutely amazing. They are ahead of technology, building an ecosystem that meets the standards of the fast-changing digital economy. SAP is indeed good at all this now, with so many components such as SAP Signavio, SAP EINS, SAP Work Zone, SAP ALM ( /categories/application-lifecycle-management-alm-suites ), Cloud ALM ( /categories/application-lifecycle-management-alm-suites ), SAP public cloud, SAP private cloud, and BTP, all of which are essential to meet the latest cutting-edge technologies.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"FME is spatially aware and understands how to deal with the conversion of spatial objects and their attributes."
"All spatial features are unrivaled, and the possibility to execute them based on a scheduled trigger, manual, e-mail, Websocket, tweet, file/directory change or virtually any trigger is most valuable."
"The most valuable feature of FME is the graphical user interface. There is nothing better. It is very easy to debug because you can see all steps where there are failures. Overall the software is easy to optimize a process."
"It has a very friendly user interface. You don't need to use a lot of code. For us that's the most important aspect about it. Also, it has a lot of connectors and few forms. It has a strong facial aspect. It can do a lot of facial analysis."
"We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else."
"It has standard plug-ins available for different data sources."
"The maintenance of data services is the solution's most valuable feature."
"You can always manipulate a lot of things as long as you have the skill level."
"The solution offers very good integration capabilities."
"The basic functionality is quite good as is the basic logic and data information."
"I appreciate having access to the SAP data."
"The initial setup is not complex."
"The most valuable feature is the ETL functionality."
"Its integration capabilities and the data migration capabilities are the most valuable. It is very good for SAP and non-SAP tools. It has very good integration with SAP, but it also has the capabilities to connect to other systems. We find it very helpful and stable."
 

Cons

"The one thing that always appears in the community is the ability to make really easy loops to loop through data efficiently. That needs to be added at some point."
"FME's price needs improvement for the African market."
"FME can improve the geographical transformation. I've had some problems with the geographical transformations, but it's probably mostly because I'm not the most skilled geographer in-house. The solution requires some in-depth knowledge to perform some functions."
"Improvements could be made to mapping presentations."
"We are looking at the possibility of using Glue instead of FME, using the native AWS product."
"To get a higher rating, it would have to improve the price and the associated scalability. These are the main issues."
"With SAP Data Services, the problem arises when I try to connect to Azure Databricks."
"It will work fine only in an SAP environment. It could be said that the integration with other vendors could be better."
"The pricing of the solution should be improved."
"The solution should offer more machine learning and automation."
"It would be nice if this solution was a bit easier to move from development to production."
"The initial setup is complex."
"Data Services SAP is lacking in sources and target databases compared to Informatica. SAP Data Services should have more connectivity."
"Source code control is another headache. When your source code base gets too large, managing the source code becomes cumbersome."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We used the standard licensing for our use of FME. The cost was approximately €15,000 annually. We always welcome less expensive solutions, if the solution could be less expensive it would be helpful."
"FME Server used to cost £10,000; now it can cost over £100,000."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"Its pricing is as per the enterprise agreement and not a concern for us."
"Speaking about prices, Oracle and SAP are market leaders. So, the prices are more."
"The pricing is a little high to make the product more competetive in the marketplace."
"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."
"I rate the product price as one or two on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The product’s on-premise version is expensive for a medium-sized company."
"Pricing is good, there is no problem."
"There is a one time purchase fee plus annual maintenance."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
30%
Energy/Utilities Company
13%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FME?
We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FME?
The pricing is really bad. Last year, they rebranded the whole pricing structure. It used to be moderately priced at about £400 per user per year. Now they've changed the whole thing, and it's expe...
What needs improvement with FME?
The one thing that always appears in the community is the ability to make really easy loops to loop through data efficiently. That needs to be added at some point. There must be a technical or comm...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, SAP BusinessObjects Data Integrator, BusinessObjects Data Integrator
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Shell, US Department of Commerce, PG&E, BC Hydro, City of Vancouver, Enel, Iowa DoT, San Antonio Water System
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 FME vs. SAP Data Services and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.