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IBM App Connect vs IBM InfoSphere DataStage 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
7.2
IBM App Connect enhances efficiency and ROI with centralized integrations, requiring expertise for long-term success across various sectors.
Sentiment score
6.9
IBM InfoSphere DataStage ROI varies; optimization boosts performance 200%, enhancing project management despite some inefficiencies and manual interventions.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
IBM App Connect support is responsive and competent, but inconsistencies and delays exist, especially in non-urgent and local support.
Sentiment score
6.1
IBM InfoSphere DataStage support is 24/7 but inconsistent, with quality varying by region and needing efficiency improvements.
When opening a ticket with the global team, problems are resolved promptly and effectively.
The technical support from IBM is good.
We also have the flexibility to submit a feature request to be included as part of the wishlist, potentially becoming a product feature in subsequent releases.
IBM tech support has allocated dedicated resources, making it satisfactory.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM App Connect is praised for scalability in cloud and container environments, with suggestions for improved administration features.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM InfoSphere DataStage is praised for scalability and connectivity but some users find scaling resource-intensive.
IBM App Connect demonstrates good scalability.
I would rate the scalability of IBM App Connect as nine out of ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM App Connect is stable, with high reliability, though occasional issues arise from environment, configuration, or resource management.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM InfoSphere DataStage is generally stable, though newer versions and installation issues on certain OS may impact stability.
IBM App Connect occasionally crashes for various reasons, requiring problem-solving intervention.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM App Connect users seek improved logging, interface enhancements, better community support, and simpler, more cost-effective version transitions.
IBM InfoSphere DataStage needs usability improvements, modern database support, better pricing, documentation, stability, and enhanced cloud integration and DevOps.
I find it particularly good for on-premises and now cloud use.
Version 13 includes around 200 features with cloud platform compatibility.
I wonder if it supports other areas, such as cloud environments with open source support, or EdgeShift.
The solution needs improvement in connectivity with big data technologies such as Spark.
 

Setup Cost

IBM App Connect's annual pricing varies by transactions and partnership, with complexities and flexibility in setup and licensing.
IBM InfoSphere DataStage is costly for small businesses but competitive for large enterprises, cheaper than Informatica yet pricey overall.
For insurance companies with simple JDBC connections, the process is straightforward.
Pricing for IBM InfoSphere DataStage is moderate and not much expensive.
 

Valuable Features

IBM App Connect excels with robust integration, user-friendly design, scalability, and flexibility for seamless, secure, and complex integrations.
IBM InfoSphere DataStage excels in parallel processing, scalability, robust data integration, and ease of use, enhancing data management efficiency.
The features I find most valuable are message routing, message transformation, and protocol translation.
File operations are simple to execute, and converting between XML to JSON formats is effortless with IBM App Connect.
The failure detection has been very useful for us, as well as the load balancing feature.
As we are a financial organization, security is our main concern, so we prefer enterprise tools.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM App Connect
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Integration (12th)
IBM InfoSphere DataStage
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (6th)
 

Featured Reviews

Emirhan Guven - PeerSpot reviewer
Transforms data efficiently and navigates licensing challenges with ease
The transition between version 12 and version 13 presents some challenges. While version 12 had approximately 10 features, version 13 includes around 200 features with cloud platform compatibility. The learning curve for developers moving from version 12 to 13 could be smoother. When using new components, better context explanations would be beneficial. In version 13, accessing new features requires connecting through a web browser, which can be challenging to understand. The explanation of new features could be more user-friendly.
Swetha S - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution streamlines design, development, and deployment with effective ETL features
The support has been really good. Typically, if we have any issues, we raise a ticket with IBM, and they help us resolve the issues if required. We also have the flexibility to submit a feature request to be included as part of the wishlist, potentially becoming a product feature in subsequent releases.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM App Connect?
I like the adapters. The adapters help us achieve scalability. If you want to connect to SAP, there's an adapter. Salesforce? There's an adapter. You want to connect to another system? There's like...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM App Connect?
Configuration time varies by implementation. For insurance companies with simple JDBC connections, the process is straightforward. However, companies requiring multiple configurations for ODBC, JDB...
What is your primary use case for IBM App Connect?
I am a developer specializing in IBM App Connect. We have a customer interested in comparing ESB tools, such as webMethods, which was previously owned by Software AG company before IBM acquired the...
Would you upgrade to more premium versions of IBM InfoSphere DataStage?
My company currently uses the free version of the product, and we are definitely switching to a paid one. We needed a tool that can help us not only integrate our data but use it effectively. For ...
Is IBM InfoSphere DataStage more difficult to use compared to other tools in the field?
I think the tool may cause some difficulties if you have not used other data integration solutions before. I have worked at companies that used different tools for data integration, and they work ...
Do you rely on IBM Cloud Paks for your data? Have you utilized this product, or do you use IBM InfoSphere DataStage without it?
IBM Cloud Paks makes a big difference in your data integration. My company has been using it alongside IBM InfoSphere DataStage and while the main product is good on its own, this one truly expands...
 

Also Known As

IBM Cast Iron
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

United Way of Allegheny County, Saint-Gobain CPS, Ricoh, SunTrust Banks Inc.
Dubai Statistics Center, Etisalat Egypt
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM App Connect vs. IBM InfoSphere DataStage and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.