IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs SAS Access comparison

IBM and SAS are both solutions in the Data Integration category. IBM is ranked #26 with an average rating of 7.0, while SAS is ranked #63. IBM holds a 1.7% mindshare in DI, compared to SAS’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SAS users who would recommend it.

IBM Cloud Pak for Data

Read 13 IBM Cloud Pak for Data reviews

2,186 Views
2,055 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

SAS Access

Read 3 SAS Access reviews

508 Views
366 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Cloud Pak for Data

SAS Access

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

SAS Access and IBM Cloud Pak for Data are competitors in the data management and analytics space. IBM Cloud Pak for Data appears superior due to its comprehensive suite of analytic tools, offering extensive data processing capabilities.

Features: SAS Access integrates with varied data sources, offers robust connectivity, and is ideal for specific integrations. IBM Cloud Pak for Data provides an end-to-end solution, supports multi-cloud environments, and offers AI-driven analytics, making it versatile for complex data environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAS Access is noted for straightforward deployment and reliable customer support, beneficial for organizations with limited IT resources. IBM Cloud Pak for Data uses containerized deployment, offering flexibility for cloud-native architectures but requires more infrastructure expertise.

Pricing and ROI: SAS Access has a lower initial setup cost, supporting quicker ROI for smaller projects. IBM Cloud Pak for Data demands higher investment but offers potentially higher ROI through extended capabilities, suitable for large-scale deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs. SAS Access Report (Updated: November 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs. SAS Access

November 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

IBM Cloud Pak for Data

Ranking in Data Integration

26th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Virtualization (3rd)

SAS Access

Ranking in Data Integration

63rd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Data is 1.7%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Access is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Integration Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Cloud Pak for Data	1.7%
SAS Access	0.5%
Other	97.8%

Data Integration

Featured Reviews

Michelle Leslie

Data asset management engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

Starts strong with data management capabilities but needs a demo database

What I would love to see is an end-to-end, almost a training demo database of some sort, where one of the biggest problems with data management is demonstrated. There are so many components to data management, and more often than not, people understand one thing really well. They may understand DataStage and how to move data around, but they do not see the impact of moving data incorrectly. They also do not see the impact of everyone understanding a piece of data in the same way. I would love Cloud Pak to come with a demo database that illustrates the different components of data management in a logical way, so I can see the whole picture instead of just the area I'm specializing in. It would be great if Cloud Pak, from a data modeling point of view, allowed us to import our PDMs, for example. It would be ideal to import and create business terms in Cloud Pak. The PEA would be great to create the technical data. The association between the business and the technical metadata could then be automated by pulling it through from your ACE models. The data modeling component is available in Cloud Pak. Additionally, when it comes to Cloud Pak, even though it has the NextGen DataStage built into it, there is Cloud Pak for data integration as well. Currently, I do not think we have a full enough understanding of how CP4D and CP4I can enhance each other.

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Robert Heck

Co Owner at Hecht und Heck GmbH

The solution is stable, scalable, and flexible

I rate the solution eight out of ten. The number of people required to maintain the solution is dependent on the other applications running. The solution in itself does not require a lot of maintenance. The solution is flexible and I recommend it when you have more complex applications with special requirements.

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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

"Cloud Pak's most valuable features are IBM MQ, IBM App Connect, IBM API Connect, and ISPF."

"You can model the data there, connect the data models with the business processes and create data lineage processes."

"IBM Watson Catalog and data pipelines are the most valuable features of the solution."

"DataStage allows me to connect to different data sources."

"The most valuable features are data virtualization and reporting."

"It is a scalable solution, and we have had no issues with its scalability in our company. I rate the solution's scalability a nine out of ten."

"I love the way that I can start at a very basic level with my data management journey by capturing my policies, justifying my data, and putting them into different categories to say this is data relating to individuals, for example, or data relating to geography."

"Cloud Pak is a very, very, very good system."

More IBM Cloud Pak for Data pros

"The most valuable feature is you have native access to the external databases."

"The most valuable part of SAS/ACCESS is what it is made for: connecting to remote systems that are not part of your physical SAS environment."

"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the ease of access to the data in those databases."

Cons

"The product is trying to be more maturity in terms of connectors. That, I believe, is an area where Cloud Pak can improve."

"The tool depends on the control plane, an OpenShift container platform utilized as an orchestration layer...So, we have communicated this issue to IBM and asked if it is feasible to adapt the solution to work on a Kubernetes platform that we support."

"What I would love to see is an end-to-end, almost a training demo database of some sort, where one of the biggest problems with data management is demonstrated."

"Cloud Pak would be improved with integration with cloud service providers like Cloudera."

"The solution could have more connectors."

"The technical support could be a little better."

"One thing that bugs me is how much infrastructure Cloud Pak requires for the initial deployment. It doesn't allow you to start small. The smallest permitted deployment is too big. It's a huge problem that prevents us from implementing the solution in many scenarios."

"One challenge I'm facing with IBM Cloud Pak for Data is native features have been decommissioned, such as XML input and output. Too many changes have been made, and my company has around one hundred thousand mappings, so my team has been putting more effort into alternative ways to do things. Another area for improvement in IBM Cloud Pak for Data is that it's more complicated to shift from on-premise to the cloud. Other vendors provide secure agents that easily connect with your existing setup. Still, with IBM Cloud Pak for Data, you have to perform connection migration steps, upgrade to the latest version, etc., which makes it more complicated, especially as my company has XML-based mappings. Still, the XML input and output capabilities of IBM Cloud Pak for Data have been discontinued, so I'd like IBM to bring that back."

More IBM Cloud Pak for Data cons

"The pricing model needs to be reconsidered and adjusted."

"I can't really recall any missing feature or general improvement that is needed. We don't really add too many new kinds of databases and therefore our needs are already met."

"The solution can provide access to the newer databases that come out sooner."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."

"It's quite expensive."

"The solution's pricing is competitive with that of other vendors."

"IBM Cloud Pak for Data is expensive. If we include the training time and the machine learning, it's expensive. The cost of the execution is more reasonable."

"For the licensing of the solution, there is a yearly payment that needs to be made. Also, since it is expensive, cost-wise, I rate the solution an eight or nine out of ten."

"I don't have the exact licensing cost for IBM Cloud Pak for Data, as my company is still finalizing requirements, including monthly, yearly, and three-year licensing fees. Still, on a scale of one to five, I'd rate it a three because, compared to other vendors, it's more complicated."

"Cloud Pak's cost is a little high."

"I think that this product is too expensive for smaller companies."

"The pricing model is complex and is based on modular packages as well as the size of the applicable environment."

"The solution's pricing and licensing are expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

27%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

21%

Insurance Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Large Enterprise	8

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?

The setup cost is very expensive. The cost depends on the pieces of the solution I'm using, how much data I have, and whether it's on the cloud or on-prem.

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What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Data?

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What is your primary use case for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?

My primary use case for Cloud Pak is that I am the reference Data steward for the Africa regions in the banks where I work. My main objective is to capture the reference data in Caltech or Data and...

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Comparisons

IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs IBM Cloud Pak for Data

Compared 43% of the time

Denodo vs IBM Cloud Pak for Data

Compared 13% of the time

Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs IBM Cloud Pak for Data

Compared 10% of the time

Palantir Foundry vs IBM Cloud Pak for Data

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Data Factory vs IBM Cloud Pak for Data

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM Cloud Pak for Data Competitors

Teradata vs SAS Access

Compared 29% of the time

SAP Analytics Hub vs SAS Access

Compared 27% of the time

Talend Data Fabric vs SAS Access

Compared 22% of the time

Talend Data Integration vs SAS Access

Compared 22% of the time

More SAS Access Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cloud Pak for Data

October 2025

Download IBM Cloud Pak for Data product report

Buyer's Guide

Data Integration

October 2025

Download SAS Access product report

Also Known As

Cloud Pak for Data

SAS/Access

Overview

IBM Cloud Pak® for Data is a fully-integrated data and AI platform that modernizes how businesses collect, organize and analyze data to infuse AI throughout their organizations. Cloud-native by design, the platform unifies market-leading services spanning the entire analytics lifecycle. From data management, DataOps, governance, business analytics and automated AI, IBM Cloud Pak for Data helps eliminate the need for costly, and often competing, point solutions while providing the information architecture you need to implement AI successfully.

Building on the streamlined hybrid-cloud foundation of Red Hat® OpenShift®, IBM Cloud Pak for Data takes advantage of the underlying resource and infrastructure optimization and management. The solution fully supports multicloud environments such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud™ and private cloud deployments. Find out how IBM Cloud Pak for Data can lower your total cost of ownership and accelerate innovation.

IBM

SAS/ACCESS is an out-of-the-box solution for integrating SAS and third-party databases. You can read, write and update data regardless of the database or platform. Because the data appears native to SAS, there is no need to learn Structured Query Language (SQL) or any other database-specific query languages.

SAS

Sample Customers

Qatar Development Bank, GuideWell, Skanderborg Music Festival

Los Angeles County, West Midlands Police, Credit Guarantee Corporation, Canada Post, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs. SAS Access

November 2025

Free Report: IBM Cloud Pak for Data vs. SAS Access

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