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IBM Cloud Pak for Data 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.9
IBM Cloud Pak for Data boosts ROI by improving data quality, reducing costs, and enabling efficient, compliant AI-driven decisions.
Sentiment score
6.2
SAP Data Services offers significant time and cost savings, enhancing productivity and aligning with digital trends for improved effectiveness.
We have been able to drive responsible, transparent, and explainable AI workflow to operationalize AI and mitigate risk and regulatory compliance easily.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro Limited
It is easy to collect, organize, and analyze data no matter where it is, hence being able to make data-driven decisions.
Engineer at Turner Construction
SAP is indeed good at all this now, with so many components such as SAP Signavio, SAP EINS, SAP Work Zone, SAP ALM, Cloud ALM, SAP public cloud, SAP private cloud, and BTP, all of which are essential to meet the latest cutting-edge technologies.
Manager, SAP Practice at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
IBM Cloud Pak for Data support is generally satisfactory but needs improved responsiveness, especially for complex issues and non-English assistance.
Sentiment score
6.7
SAP Data Services support receives mixed reviews, with high marks for urgent issues but inconsistencies lead some users to seek alternatives.
Cloud Pak is a complicated system, and it's often difficult to find the right resource in IBM to help with specific issues.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The customer support for IBM Cloud Pak for Data is great and responsive.
Engineer at Turner Construction
I would rate IBM's support at about a seven or eight out of ten because we have good support coverage owing to our long association with IBM.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
If you keep a high priority issue, such as a production impact, they certainly come and address it in no time.
Manager, SAP Practice at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The level three support is better because they know what they are doing.
SAP BI Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is highly rated for scalability, favored by medium and large organizations for its expandable infrastructure.
Sentiment score
7.4
SAP Data Services is highly scalable, efficiently manages data operations, supports various organizational sizes, and improves performance for enterprises.
I have not noticed any downtime or lagging, especially when dealing with large data, so it is relatively very scalable.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro Limited
IBM Cloud Pak for Data's scalability is very good; it can be used by any size of organization.
Engineer at Turner Construction
If I were to rate it from one to 10, I would say it has a nine to 10 for scalability.
SAP BI Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is generally stable, rated 7-9, improving over time, despite integration-related challenges.
Sentiment score
7.6
SAP Data Services is highly stable, user-friendly, with occasional hardware-related issues, and remains reliable with minimal glitches.
I would rate the stability of SAP Data Services as very stable, a ten.
Data Services Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Cloud Pak for Data needs better performance, integration, user support, deployment options, and more training resources to enhance usability.
SAP Data Services struggles with job handling, integration, user interface complexity, pricing, scalability, and support effectiveness.
Setting up the hybrid and multi-cloud environments is a long job and it takes time.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro Limited
IBM Cloud Pak for Data can be improved because processing speeds are sometimes slow.
Engineer at Turner Construction
To improve IBM Cloud Pak for Data, I suggest more out-of-the-box integration.
Senior Project Manager at EY
Now, they are coming up with many pricing options, which is tricky; they offer one thing for free, but charge for nine others.
Manager, SAP Practice at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
SAP Data Services does handle integration with third-party systems.
Data Services Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The documentation is not up to the mark.
SAP BI Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

IBM Cloud Pak for Data offers flexible, competitive pricing, appealing to large enterprises despite high setup costs.
SAP Data Services pricing is competitive for enterprises but can be substantial for small businesses with variable licensing costs.
The setup cost is very expensive.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Regarding my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing, for a small organization, the price might be relatively high, but for huge enterprises such as ours, the price is relatively affordable.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro Limited
The list price is high, but the flexibility in pricing is adequate.
Solution Manager at Intalion
 

Valuable Features

IBM offers powerful AI and data tools enhancing decision-making, connectivity, and cost efficiency through automation and multi-cloud support.
SAP Data Services provides scalable data migration and integration with advanced features, including ETL, data quality, and SAP connectivity.
From there, I can work my way into a more granular level, applying all of that information on top of my actual data to understand what my data looks like, where it came from, and where it went wrong, managing it throughout the cycle.
Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The benefits of choosing IBM Cognos, in addition to saving on cost, include having institutional knowledge about maintaining this infrastructure and enough people who have developed on Cognos in the past, which creates comfort in its use.
EDW Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
We have been able to save approximately 80 percent of our time. We are not doing data analysis manually, so this relieves our data department of dealing with data.
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro Limited
SAP is indeed good at all this now, with so many components such as SAP Signavio, SAP EINS, SAP Work Zone, SAP ALM, Cloud ALM, SAP public cloud, SAP private cloud, and BTP, all of which are essential to meet the latest cutting-edge technologies.
Manager, SAP Practice at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
SAP Data Services is mainly used for extraction of data, and it works with all databases.
SAP BI Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
It remains a fast data-moving tool, faster than most new ones.
Data Services Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cloud Pak for Data
Ranking in Data Integration
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (3rd)
SAP Data Services
Ranking in Data Integration
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Data is 1.3%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Data Services is 1.5%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP Data Services1.5%
IBM Cloud Pak for Data1.3%
Other97.2%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

ArchanaSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Analyst at Wipro Limited
Collaborative data platform has transformed analytics and now drives faster decisions
The best features IBM Cloud Pak for Data offers include robust data visualization, centralized data analytics, data reliability, and compatibility with hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The compatibility with hybrid and multi-cloud environments has helped our organization as data visualization is very simple. Migrations, reading, analysis, and data management from other sources are performed without problems of requirements. We have a team of experts in IBM Cloud Pak for Data to maintain security and correct data management easily. I find this cloud excellent for visualizing and managing data across networks and also fulfilling fastest data storage, making it less complex and completely improving productivity in my organization. Everything is managed in multiple environments without any problem. IBM Cloud Pak for Data has positively impacted my organization, and I have noticed some improvement since we started using this tool. Configuration with hybrid and multi-cloud environments has been very seamless and easy. It is a robust platform capable of working with multiple data sources where we gain insights to make data-driven decisions easily. It automates data analysis for quick and better performance. We have seen improvements in analysis and data correction from multiple sources. Our productivity in the company is growing, thanks to the data analysis team. We have also seen a robust hybrid and multi-cloud access system working seamlessly. I can share specific outcomes that show how productivity has grown and how performance has improved since the data is automated, and the analysis is done much faster, saving us a lot of time. We have been able to save approximately 80 percent of our time. We are not doing data analysis manually, so this relieves our data department of dealing with data. We have been relieved of a lot of duties, and now we are able to focus on other strategic tasks. Our productivity has greatly increased since we are able to make concrete and data-driven decisions easily.
Ramesh Pampana - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, SAP Practice at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has consistently provided impressive data handling capabilities and robust security features
Some of the most valuable features of SAP Data Services 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, 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. 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, Cloud ALM, SAP public cloud, SAP private cloud, and BTP, all of which are essential to meet the latest cutting-edge technologies.
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885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
University
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise36
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
Regarding the price, I know IBM is traditionally relatively expensive in the Hungarian market, but we work together with the local IBM sales team, and on a project basis they manage to negotiate th...
What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
I think we are happy with IBM Cloud Pak for Data, and there is no specific idea that comes to my mind regarding room for improvement. We are following the progress and the new features, so overall ...
What is your primary use case for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
I usually recommend IBM Cloud Pak for Data for companies in the financial sector, as we are mostly working with local insurance companies and banks within Hungary where we are located. For IBM Clou...
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...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Pak for Data
SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, SAP BusinessObjects Data Integrator, BusinessObjects Data Integrator
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Qatar Development Bank, GuideWell, Skanderborg Music Festival
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 IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs. SAP Data Services and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.