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IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) 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
6.9
IBM InfoSphere DataStage ROI varies; optimization boosts performance 200%, enhancing project management despite some inefficiencies and manual interventions.
Sentiment score
7.1
Organizations benefit from improved data quality, time savings, and ROI with Informatica Cloud, enhancing processes and security.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
IBM InfoSphere DataStage support is 24/7 but inconsistent, with quality varying by region and needing efficiency improvements.
Sentiment score
6.9
Informatica's customer service is effective, praised for responsiveness but criticized for occasional delays and inconsistency.
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.
Due to the tool's maturity limitations, solutions are not always simple and often require workarounds.
If they are unsure how to resolve an issue, they keep customers informed, providing updates about progress and ensuring communication with the product team to deliver accurate responses.
The response time is pretty good because we have someone in-house, who is an expert from Informatica, in our team who can help us with any sort of queries usually.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
IBM InfoSphere DataStage is praised for scalability and connectivity but some users find scaling resource-intensive.
Sentiment score
7.3
Informatica IDMC is highly scalable and adaptable, though optimal design and documentation are crucial for large-scale operations.
As a SaaS platform, IDMC is quite scalable and provides complete flexibility.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
IBM InfoSphere DataStage is generally stable, though newer versions and installation issues on certain OS may impact stability.
Sentiment score
7.7
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud is generally stable, with newer versions being more reliable and support enhancing consistency.
Stability is crucial because IDMC holds business-critical data, and it needs to be available all the time for business users.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM InfoSphere DataStage needs usability improvements, modern database support, better pricing, documentation, stability, and enhanced cloud integration and DevOps.
IDMC requires UI improvements, better system connectivity, performance enhancements, cost reduction, AI features, and improved support and observability.
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.
The licenses are too expensive compared to before, which is why customers are now preferring other data metadata management tools like OneTrust, Collibra, and Azure Purview.
I also want to see integration with other Informatica products, such as IICS, to leverage the metadata from EDC.
The tool needs to mature in terms of category-specific attributes or dynamic attributes.
 

Setup Cost

IBM InfoSphere DataStage is costly for small businesses but competitive for large enterprises, cheaper than Informatica yet pricey overall.
Informatica IDMC's pricing is seen as high, with nuanced licensing, leading to user concerns compared to competitors.
Pricing for IBM InfoSphere DataStage is moderate and not much expensive.
IDMC is often described as the 'Ferrari of Master Data Solutions,' implying that while expensive, it is business-critical and, therefore, justified.
The licenses are too expensive compared to before, which is why customers are now preferring other data metadata management tools like OneTrust, Collibra, and Azure Purview.
I think the costs are reasonable for the kinds of features that Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) has.
 

Valuable Features

IBM InfoSphere DataStage excels in parallel processing, scalability, robust data integration, and ease of use, enhancing data management efficiency.
Informatica IDMC is a robust cloud platform offering seamless data integration, real-time streaming, and comprehensive data management features.
As we are a financial organization, security is our main concern, so we prefer enterprise tools.
The failure detection has been very useful for us, as well as the load balancing feature.
In on-premise, we call it EDC for metadata management, while in cloud-based technologies, it is known as the Metadata Command Center, which serves the same purpose as EDC concerning CDGC.
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) can connect to pretty much any application, including Oracle Analytics and Power BI, and it works quite seamlessly.
The platform's ability to pull in data from other platforms without the need for an additional integration tool enhances its appeal.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM InfoSphere DataStage
Ranking in Data Integration
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Ranking in Data Integration
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
185
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (11th), Business-to-Business Middleware (5th), API Management (8th), Cloud Data Integration (3rd), Data Governance (2nd), Test Data Management (3rd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (2nd), Data Masking (2nd), Metadata Management (1st), Test Data Management Services (3rd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere DataStage is 5.0%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) is 4.3%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Saikat Ghosh - PeerSpot reviewer
Match and merge functionality is still the best but cloud version needs more functionality
There are various areas for improvement in IDMC. Enhancements on basic data management functionality and the UI front, such as multiple templates and improved grid views, would be beneficial. Bulk data management features could be improved from the UI perspective to get to the level of the on prem versions of Informatica MDM. The tool needs to mature but missing small but important features, like restricted dynamic attributes functionality, data inheritance rules in master hierachies, identifiers not being passed in jobs is a drawback.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
Azure Data Factory is a solid product offering many transformation functions; It has pre-load and post-load transformations, allowing users to apply transformations either in code by using Power Q...
Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?
Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge...
What are the biggest benefits of using Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
When it comes to cloud data integration, this solution can provide you with multiple benefits, including: Overhead reduction by integrating data on any cloud in various ways Effective integration ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
ActiveVOS, Active Endpoints, BPM, Address Verification, Persistent Data Masking, Cloud Test Data Management, PIM, , Enterprise Data Catalog, Data Integration Hub, Cloud Data Integration, Data Quality, Cloud API and App Integration
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dubai Statistics Center, Etisalat Egypt
The Travel Company, Carbonite
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs. Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
859,579 professionals have used our research since 2012.