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Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics vs SSIS vs WhereScape RED comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.9
Pentaho offers cost-effective integration, reducing ETL time, lowering expenses, and enhancing competitiveness with open-source flexibility and efficiency.
Sentiment score
7.3
SSIS offers cost-effective data management with no extra fees, but some users prefer alternatives with a larger budget.
Sentiment score
7.0
WhereScape RED offers varied returns, with some users experiencing quick ROI, efficient development, and substantial gains.
Using SSIS has proven cost-effective as there are no additional fees outside the SQL Server license, and it significantly enhances data management efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.2
Users rely on community support over customer service due to mixed experiences, despite responsive technical support and Hitachi's involvement.
Sentiment score
6.0
Users find SSIS support mixed; many prefer online solutions and community forums over Microsoft’s challenging and costly support.
Sentiment score
8.3
Customer service is often excellent and prompt, although some feel support wanes post-purchase and seems money-driven.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Pentaho excels in scalability and efficient data handling but faces challenges with exceptionally large data and complex growth scenarios.
Sentiment score
6.8
SSIS is scalable for various enterprises, requiring proper configuration for optimal performance, but may lack compared to alternatives.
Sentiment score
6.6
WhereScape RED efficiently scales with large data, improves ETL processing, and enhances speeds using ELT and SQL features.
Pentaho Data Integration handles larger datasets better.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Pentaho Data Integration offers reliability for small to midsize operations but may lag and freeze with complex uses.
Sentiment score
7.5
SSIS is stable and reliable, though occasional performance issues are noted; proper infrastructure enhances its effectiveness.
Sentiment score
6.6
WhereScape RED's stability varies; it's praised for maturity and speed, yet some report resource and debugging challenges.
It's pretty stable, however, it struggles when dealing with smaller amounts of data.
It processes large volumes of data quickly.
 

Room For Improvement

Pentaho needs improvements in big data performance, error handling, UI, scheduling, backward compatibility, cloud integration, and Python support.
SSIS needs user interface, performance, compatibility, integration, error logging, scalability improvements, and better real-time, security, and API support.
WhereScape RED suffers from scalability issues, lacking performance efficiency, enhanced documentation, better GUI, and improved support for multi-database environments.
Pentaho Data Integration is very friendly, it is not very useful when there isn't a lot of data to handle.
Within the South African context, if you are getting your enterprise agreement from First Technology, they don't provide support.
SSIS has a difficult learning curve when dealing with complex transformations.
 

Setup Cost

Pentaho offers a cost-effective solution with its free Community Edition and affordable subscription-based Enterprise Edition for varying needs.
SSIS is economical for SQL Server users, offering value without extra setup costs compared to pricier ETL tools.
WhereScape RED's flexible developer-based licensing and native SQL code provide cost-effective, vendor-independent data warehousing solutions with quick ROI potential.
Utilizing SSIS involves no extra charges beyond the SQL Server license.
 

Valuable Features

Pentaho provides an intuitive, open-source platform for efficient ETL development and data integration with minimal coding and broad compatibility.
SSIS is popular for its ease of use, scalability, integration, cost-effectiveness, and powerful ETL capabilities with Microsoft products.
WhereScape RED streamlines data warehousing with automation, agile support, user-friendly interface, and compatibility with leading methodologies.
I find the drag and drop feature in Pentaho Data Integration very useful for integration.
One of the best aspects of SSIS is that it is built into Microsoft SQL Server, so there are no additional costs involved.
SSAS is included in the base installation of SQL Server.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics is 1.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SSIS is 7.4%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WhereScape RED is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Aqeel UR Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Transform data efficiently with rich features but there's challenges with large datasets
Currently, I am using Pentaho Data Integration for transforming data and then loading it into different platforms. Sometimes, I use it in conjunction with AWS, particularly S3 and Redshift, to execute the copy command for data processing Pentaho Data Integration is easy to use, especially when…
Sean Achim - PeerSpot reviewer
Building impactful organizational KPIs with ease and precision
Stability is rated at 10. One other important aspect I appreciate is that SSAS is included in the base installation of SQL Server. Obviously, it requires installation, but it is readily available, which is a major strength. It's all about setting it up, configuring it, and then using it. If there are additional costs associated with it or separating it as a second product, that would be a disadvantage. The area of improvement is really in education. Microsoft is trying to push everything as a Power BI solution or trying to get people to solve the problems which are solved with SSAS in another space in Power BI, or in Power Pivot, is not enough. There's not enough marketing, conversation, and support around that space. As a result, we end up with people not understanding that you need to build your models correctly, and then they try to model everything inside of Power BI, or another visualization tool, without first building the data model. That leads people to consider alternate solutions because SAP and others argue that their whole thing is in memory, and they disseminate misleading information. Additionally, what would be very helpful is local user group developments, so getting people around the table and teaching them how to use it. That is the biggest problem; it's not the technology itself. The challenge lies in Microsoft withdrawing a lot of the qualifications and watering down its emphasis, leading to a perception that this is supposed to be an elite product.
reviewer1618884 - PeerSpot reviewer
Quick to set up, flexible, and stable
The scheduling part I don't like due to the fact that it allows you to schedule as a parent and child and other things, however, the error trackability has to be a little more user-friendly. It's also not user-friendly in the sense that it loads all the jobs and there are not enough filters so that it doesn't need to load everything. If the job fails, you don't get any type of alert or email. It would be ideal if there was some sort of automated alert message. Technical support isn't the best. It would be ideal if we understood how to do it in a card exception regarding exclusion, where the card is captured separately rather than filling the whole process on the data inbound side. Certain workloads like this are organized in such a way where you seem to be doubling the work as opposed to streamlining the process.
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Comparison Review

it_user90069 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 20, 2014
Informatica PowerCenter vs. Microsoft SSIS - each technology has its advantages but also have similarities
Technology has made it easier for businesses to organize and manipulate data to get a clearer picture of what’s going on with their business. Notably, ETL tools have made managing huge amounts of data significantly easier and faster, boosting many organizations’ business intelligence operations…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which ETL tool would you recommend to populate data from OLTP to OLAP?
Hi Rajneesh, yes here is the feature comparison between the community and enterprise edition : https://www.hitachivan...
What do you think can be improved with Hitachi Lumada Data Integrations?
In my opinion, the reporting side of this tool needs serious improvements. In my previous company, we worked with Hi...
What do you use Hitachi Lumada Data Integrations for most frequently?
My company has used this product to transform data from databases, CSV files, and flat files. It really does a good j...
Which is better - SSIS or Informatica PowerCenter?
SSIS PowerPack is a group of drag and drop connectors for Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, commonly called ...
What do you like most about SSIS?
The product's deployment phase is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SSIS?
Utilizing SSIS involves no extra charges beyond the SQL Server license. It's an economical choice for my clients.
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Also Known As

Hitachi Lumada Data Integration, Kettle, Pentaho Data Integration
SQL Server Integration Services
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

66Controls, Providential Revenue Agency of Ro Negro, NOAA Information Systems, Swiss Real Estate Institute
1. Amazon.com 2. Bank of America 3. Capital One 4. Coca-Cola 5. Dell 6. E*TRADE 7. FedEx 8. Ford Motor Company 9. Google 10. Home Depot 11. IBM 12. Intel 13. JPMorgan Chase 14. Kraft Foods 15. Lockheed Martin 16. McDonald's 17. Microsoft 18. Morgan Stanley 19. Nike 20. Oracle 21. PepsiCo 22. Procter & Gamble 23. Prudential Financial 24. RBC Capital Markets 25. SAP 26. Siemens 27. Sony 28. Toyota 29. UnitedHealth Group 30. Visa 31. Walmart 32. Wells Fargo
British American Tobacco, Cornell University, Allianz Benelux, Finnair, Solarwinds and many more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Informatica, Talend and others in Data Integration. Updated: June 2025.
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