IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs Informatica PowerCenter vs Talend Open Studio comparison

IBM InfoSphere DataStage is a high-quality data integration tool that aims to design, develop, and run jobs that move and transform data for organizations of different sizes. The product works by integrating data across multiple systems through a high-performance parallel framework. It supports extended metadata management, enterprise connectivity, and integration of all types of data.

The solution is the data integration component of IBM InfoSphere Information Server, providing a graphical framework for moving data from source systems to target systems. IBM InfoSphere DataStage can deliver data to data warehouses, data marts, operational data sources, and other enterprise applications. The tool works with various types of patterns - extract, transform and load (ETL), and extract, load, and transform (ELT). The scalability of the platform is achieved by using parallel processing and enterprise connectivity.

The solution has various versions, catering to different types of companies, which include the Server Edition, the Enterprise Edition, and the MVS Edition. Depending on which version a company has bought, different goals can be achieved. They include the following:

• Designing data flows to extract information from multiple sources, transform the data, and deliver it to target databases or applications.
  
  
• Delivery of relevant and accurate data through direct connections to enterprise applications.
  
  
• Reduction of development time and improvement of consistency through prebuilt functions.
  
  
• Utilization of InfoSphere Information Server tools for accelerating the project delivery cycle.

IBM InfoSphere DataStage can be deployed in various ways, including:

• As a service: The tool can be accessed from a subscription model, where its capabilities are a part of IBM DataStage on IBM Cloud Park for Data as a Service. This option offers full management on IBM Cloud.
  
  
• On premises or in any cloud: The two editions - IBM DataStage Enterprise and IBM DataStage Enterprise Plus - can run workloads on premises or in any cloud when added to IBM DataStage on IBM Cloud Pak for Data as a Service.
  
  
• On premises: The basic jobs of the tool can be run on premises using IBM DataStage.

IBM InfoSphere DataStage Features

The tool has various features through which users can integrate and utilize their data effectively. The components of IBM InfoSphere DataStage include:

• AI services: The tool offers services such as data science, event messaging, data warehousing, and data virtualization. It accelerates processes through artificial intelligence (AI) and offers a connection with IBM Cloud Paks - the cloud-native insight platform of the solution.
  
  
• Parallel engine: Through this feature, ETL performance can be optimized to process data at scale. This is achieved through parallel engine and load balancing, which maximizes throughput.
  
  
• Metadata support: This feature of the product uses the IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog to protect companies' sensitive data and monitor who can access it and at what levels.
  
  
• Automated delivery pipelines: IBM InfoSphere DataStage reduces costs by automating continuous integration and delivery of pipelines.
  
  
• Prebuilt connectors: The feature for prebuilt connectivity and stages allows users to move data between multiple cloud sources and data warehouses, including IBM native products.
  
  
• IBM DataStage Flow Designer: This feature offers assistance through machine learning design. The product offers its clients a user-friendly interface which facilitates the work process.
  
  
• IBM InfoSphere QualityStage: The tool provides a feature that automatically resolves data quality issues and increases the reliability of the delivered data.
  
  
• Automated failure detection: Through this feature, companies can reduce infrastructure management efforts, relying on the automated detection that the tool offers.
  
  
• Distributed data processing: Cloud runtimes can be executed remotely through this feature while maintaining its sovereignty and decreasing costs.

IBM InfoSphere DataStage Benefits

This solution offers many benefits for the companies that utilize it for data integration. Some of these benefits include:

• Increased speed of workload execution due to better balancing and a parallel engine.
  
  
• Reduction of data movement costs through integrations and seamless design of jobs.
  
  
• Modernization of data integration by extending the capabilities of companies' data.
  
  
• Delivery of reliable data through IBM Cloud Pak for Data.
  
  
• Utilization of a drag-and-drop interface which assists in the delivery of data without the need for code.
  
  
• Effective data manipulation allows data to be merged before being mapped and transformed.
  
  
• Creating easier access of users to their data by providing visual maps of the process and the delivered data.

Reviews from Real Users

A data/solution architect at a computer software company says the product is robust, easy to use, has a simple error logging mechanism, and works very well for huge volumes of data.

Tirthankar Roy Chowdhury, team leader at Tata Consultancy Services, feels the tool is user-friendly with a lot of functionalities, and doesn't require much coding because of its drag-and-drop features.

Informatica PowerCenter is a data integration and data visualization tool. The solution works as an enterprise data integration platform that helps organizations access, transform, and integrate data from various systems. The product is designed to support companies in the full cycle of a project, from its initial rollout to critical deployments. Informatica PowerCenter allows developers and analysts to collaborate while accelerating the work process to deploy projects within days instead of months.

The Advanced edition of the product provides an additional real-time engine which allows companies to have always-on enterprise data integration. This ensures seamless collaboration and increment of data lineage visibility and impacts analysis.

The Premium edition of the solution offers an early warning system that detects unexpected behaviors or incorrect utilization of resources in the workflows and alerts companies in the case that these occur. This version of the product also offers automatic data validation, which ensures data accuracy and reduces testing time and expenditure of resources for by up to 90%.

Informatica PowerCenter Features

The product provides users with various features which allow them to execute data integration initiatives such as analytics, data warehousing, data governance, consolidation, and application migration. The features of the solution include:

• Collaboration: Informatica PowerCenter offers role-based tools and processes which enable business self-service while benefiting from high-quality IT resources.
  
  
• Automation: Through various automations and easy-to-use software, users can utilize graphical and codeless tools and initiate effective data integration without additional knowledge.
  
  
• Scalability: The tool provides high scalability to users, which ensures seamless performance and minimum downtime. PowerCenter also has adaptive load balancing, pushdown optimization, and dynamic partitioning.
  
  
• Monitoring: Through the extensive monitoring feature, the operations and governance of the solution are easily overseen by users. The tool also provides alerts that can prevent damage to the system.
  
  
• Real-time data: Through real-time data, users can monitor applications and analytics, ensuring their efficient operation.
  
  
• Prototyping: Informatica lets its users collaborate with information technology to prototype, profile, and validate results in a timely manner.
  
  
• Connectivity: Users can access and integrate data from different types of sources through high-performance connectors.
  
  
• Automated data validation testing: The product offers script-free automated and repeatable audit and validation of data.
  
  
• Data transformation: This feature allows users to use comprehensive parsing of JSON, PDF, XML, Microsoft Office, and the Internet of Things (IoT) for non-relation data.
  
  
• Cloud applications connectivity: The product allows for seamless connection to cloud application sources and targets.

Informatica PowerCenter Benefits

The benefits of using Informatica PowerCenter include:

• The tool can work over a wide range of systems and platforms and also allows for lean integration.
  
  
• It enhances the quality and speed of performance and optimizes the cost of the process for your organization.
  
  
• PowerCenter supports multiple databases, including TPump, Parallel Transporter Fastload, and Teradata MLoad.
  
  
• The tool is very easy to monitor and maintain, which simplifies the data integration process for companies.
  
  
• The centralized error logging system allows users to locate errors in a timely manner and correct them.
  
  
• The tool can convert data from an application to another format, as it serves as one of the most powerful data transformation solutions.
  
  
• PowerCenter can also serve as middleware between two applications.
  
  
• The solution offers both parallel processing and load balancing.
  
  
• PowerCenter is a tool with a high level of security, which also minimizes essential administration activities.
  
  
• The solution ensures the quality of information, as it does not allow invalid or unwanted data to be uploaded to the source.

Reviews from Real Users

Yahya T., a developer and architect at L'Oreal, says the product is stable, provides good support, and integrating it with other systems is very fast.

Mohamed E., a senior manager for Data management and data governance at a tech company, says PowerCenter is stable, mature, and offers flexibility in building the pipeline and has a drag-and-drop mode because it's GUI-based; technical support is brilliant.

Talend Open Studio is a free, open source ETL tool for data integration and Big Data. The solution enables you to extract diverse datasets and normalize and transform them into a consistent format which can be loaded into a number of third-party databases and applications.

Talend Open Studio Features

Talend Open Studio has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

• Automatic identification of data types and potential errors
• tMap module
• Graphical conversion tools
• Charts
• Database SCD Tools
• Business intelligence formats (Jasper, OLAP, SPSS, Splunk)
• ETL and ELT support
• Eclipse-based development tooling
• Versioning
• Large library of connectors
• Data flow orchestration
• File management without scripting
• Data transformations

Talend Open Studio Benefits

There are several benefits to implementing Talend Open Studio. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

• Reduces the time taken to develop the integration.
• Provides a wide selection of source and target connectors.
• Monitor and manage problematic deployments with ease.
• Allows developers to have the lowest cost of ownership for any solution.
• Improves collaboration between different teams who need access to data.
• Automated data integration process synchronizes the data and eases real time and periodic reporting, which would be time-consuming if done manually.
• Achieve better data quality because data matures and improves over time.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Talend Open Studio solution.

Elio B., Data Integration Specialist/CTO at Asset messages, says, "The solution has a good balance between automated items and the ability for a developer to integrate and extend what he needs. Other competing tools do not offer the same grade of flexibility when you need to go beyond what is provided by the tool. Talend, on the other hand, allows you to expand very easily."

A Practice Head, Analytics at a tech services company mentions, “The data integration aspect of the solution is excellent. The product's data preparation features are very good. There's very useful data stewardship within the product. From a technical standpoint, the solution itself is pretty good. There are very good pre-built connectors in Talend, which is good for many clients or businesses, as, in most cases, companies are dealing with multiple data sources from multiple technologies. That is where a tool like Talend is extremely helpful.”

Prerna T., Senior System Executive at a tech services company, comments, “The best thing I have found with Talend Open Studio is their major support for the lookups. With Salesforce, when we want to relate our child objects to their parent object, we need to create them via IDs. Then the upsert operation, which will allow you to relate a child object to the event, will have an external ID. That is the best thing which keeps it very sorted. I like that.”

An Implementation Specialist, Individual Contributor at a computer software company, states, “I can connect with different databases such as Oracle Database or SQL Server. It allows you to extract the data from one database to another. I can structure the data by filtering and mapping the fields.” He also adds, “It is very user-friendly. You need to know the basics of SQL development or SQL queries, and you can use this tool.”

PeerSpot user Badrakh V., Information System Architect at Astvision, explains, "The most valuable features are the ETL tools."